HONG KONG, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- A monumental work by British artist Damien Hirst from his highly acclaimed "Butterfly" series is set to be sold in a modern and contemporary art auction in Hong Kong Wednesday, the Seoul Auction said on Monday.

    Born in 1965, Hirst is known as one of the world's most famous and commercially successful contemporary artists. He created "The Importance of Elsewhere - The Kingdom of Heaven" in 2006 by using thousands of live butterflies on a dark blue canvas surface to form a beautiful "window". It is expected to fetch over 18 million HK dollars (2.3 million US dollars) in the upcoming sale.

    "Tranquility", another piece by Hirst, sold for 13.37 million HK dollars (1.71 million US dollars) in May, which became the most expensive work by the artist ever sold at auctions in Asia, said the managing director Ms Misung Shim of the auction house.

    Dozens of other paintings by Western and Asian artists with a total value of over 70 million HK dollars (12 million US dollars) are also to be auctioned at the event held at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong.