Birds
Birds
Signed Print
Tracey Emin
£10,500-£16,000Value Indicator
$21,000-$35,000 Value Indicator
$19,000-$29,000 Value Indicator
¥100,000-¥150,000 Value Indicator
€12,500-€19,000 Value Indicator
$100,000-$160,000 Value Indicator
¥2,000,000-¥3,050,000 Value Indicator
$13,500-$20,000 Value Indicator
AAGR (5 years) This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.
There aren't enough data points on this work for a comprehensive result. Please speak to a specialist by making an enquiry.
Medium: Lithograph
Edition size: 300
Year: 2011
Size: H 76cm x W 60cm
Signed: Yes
Format: Signed Print
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Auction Results
| Auction Date | Auction House | Location | Hammer Price | Return to Seller | Buyer Paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2024 | Christie's London | United Kingdom | |||
| January 2023 | Phillips London | United Kingdom | |||
| March 2020 | Sotheby's London | United Kingdom | |||
| March 2019 | Forum Auctions London | United Kingdom | |||
| September 2017 | Sotheby's London | United Kingdom | |||
| October 2016 | Christie's London | United Kingdom | |||
| September 2016 | Sotheby's London | United Kingdom |
Meaning & Analysis
British artist Tracey Emin’s Birds was executed as a lithograph in inky blue and pale grey in 2011. In this illustrated love letter, the artist depicts two kissing birds beneath the words, ‘You inspire me with Your determination And I Love You’. This signed print belongs to a limited edition of 300.
Emin was born in the far south of London in 1963. She grew up in the midst of a blooming technicolour age referred to as ‘The Swinging Sixties’. Her adolescent years were characterised by a youth-driven cultural revolution built on modern and self-indulgent ways of thinking.
Emin’s outstanding artistry is defined by her innate ability to convey emotion through the process of drawing. Her works on paper are technically accomplished and manifest her devotion to her craft. She is an expressionist whose jagged contours and rapid lines convey our anxiety at being human when confronted with the complexities of life. What better creature to envelop all of these touchstones than a bird.
Emin's Birds from 2011 is a witty illustrated love letter. Preceding the design of Believe In Extraordinary from 2015, this print depicts a line drawing in blue ink of two birds kissing. They sit perched on an elderflower bush beneath the words, ‘You inspire me with Your determination And I Love You’. Emin dedicated this work to the strength and determination of all Paralympics alike. The birds, a motif that Emin frequently uses, symbolise freedom and vigour, whilst the use of the text expresses her immense admiration of human resilience.
Tracey Emin, born in 1963, stands as a fearless provocateur in the contemporary art scene. A trailblazer of the Young British Artists (YBA) movement in the late 1980s, the artist has sparked conversation and controversy for decades. Confronting themes of love, trauma and femininity with great vulnerability, Emin's work is a visceral tapestry of her life and has forged an intimate dialogue between artist and audience. In 1999, this raw approach to storytelling won her a nomination to the Turner Prize and, in 2007, it got her a coveted spot as a Royal Academician at the Royal Academy of Arts (RA).
