A Monumental Canvas by Yoshitomo Nara Sells for $25 Million in Hong Kong, Shattering the Artist’s Previous Auction Record
It is the latest in a slew of artist records to be set at auction in Hong Kong.
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Yoshitomo Nara Knife Behind Back (2000). Courtesy Sotheby's Hong Kong
Yoshitomo Nara Knife Behind Back (2000). Courtesy Sotheby's Hong Kong
Theatre of the Actors of Regard
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A work by the Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara sold for nearly $25 million at Sotheby’s contemporary evening sale in Hong Kong on Saturday, smashing the artist’s previous auction record by a factor of five. As protesters flooded the streets of central Hong Kong over the weekend, the sale carried on—and, perhaps surprisingly, outperformed expectations. The auction brought in HK$538 million ($68.6 million), exceeding its pre-sale high estimate of HK$408 million ($52 million).A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
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Six bidders duked it out for a lengthy ten minutes to get their hands on Nara’s Knife Behind Back (2000), which ultimately sold for $24.9 million with premium. The artist completed the canvas—his largest ever to come to auction—the same year he returned to Japan after spending 12 years in Germany. In the painting, one of his trademark wide-eyed children stares out crankily at the viewer with one hand behind her back; only the title offers an ominous indication of what she is holding in her hand.
Peter Tyndall (c.1986) after Lucio Fontana (1964). Courtesy FIAPCE
Theatre of the Actors of Regard
detail
A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
someone looks at something...
LOGOS/HA HA
A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
someone looks at something...
LOGOS/HA HA