Lot  130 Ravenel Spring Auction 2020 Taipei

Ravenel Spring Auction 2020 Taipei

Your Puppy

Yoshitomo NARA (Japanese, 1959)

2016

FRP, edtion no. AP 1/1, edition of 3

271.3(L) x 140.3(W) x 188.3(H) cm

Estimate

TWD 48,000,000-60,000,000

HKD 12,339,000-15,424,000

USD 1,593,100-1,991,400

CNY 11,321,000-14,151,000

Sold Price

TWD 64,160,000

HKD 16,839,895

USD 2,170,501

CNY 15,203,791


Signature

PROVENANCE:
Blum & Poe, USA

EXHIBITED:
Patong Beach, Phulcet, Tailand 2006 (different version)
Yoshino-cho Park, Aomori, Japan 2007 (different version)
Asia Art Museum of San Francisco, California, USA, 2017(different version)
Bangkok Art Biennale, Bangkok, Thailand, 2018(different version)

+ OVERVIEW

Yoshitomo Nara is definitely one of the most popular Japanese artists in recent years. His works are lonely, yet warm; simple and approachable, yet touching. His childish yet rebellious style is
fascinating, and is sought after by collectors. Nara prefers working alone, and use his age-defying works of childhood memories to portray touching life experiences.

“All my works are actually my self-portrait in my mind, they are my conversations with myself.” -Yoshitomo Nara
The characters in Nara’s works all share one thing in common: they are all alone. The cold city of Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture was where Nara grew up, and as he said, “I was very lonely, with only apple trees around me......Mother Nature is all I can talk to, so I talk to trees, dogs, pigs......That’s why I have a special feeling towards nature. After a few years, I found out that this is not actually a bad thing.” Nara moved and lived in Germany for 12 years in total, with his hometown tens of thousands of kilometers away and language barrier in place, it was like a long journey of self-imposed exile. Nara once said:

“The cold and darkness in Dusseldorf was similar to my childhood in Aomori. With the sense of distance from Japan, it reminds me of who I am, and helped me to rediscover myself.”
“No-one can really learn the meaning of life, all we can do is to feel it.” -Yoshitomo Nara

Whether eyes open or closed, characters in Nara’s works always look like they have refused to interact with the outside world. To Nara, whose childhood was spent with only storybooks and music as his partners, these characters are what was the most natural to him, an accurate portrayal of himself. In 1995, Nara released a large sculpture of a puppy for the first time in Tokyo. After that, he began to use more fiberglass in his works to turn the kids and animals from his paintings into sculptures, which received very positive critical response. In order to commemorate the South Asian tsunami in 2006, Nara created sculpture of puppy “Your Dog In Phuket” with a height of 3.5 meters in the Phuket beach where is the main disaster area. Nara’s creation always reflects artist’s mind state and life experience with the power of healing. In Ravenel Spring 2020 Auction Modern and Contemporary Asian Art honestly presented this museum-grade sculpture installation “Your Puppy” which created in 2016. The snow-white big dog with a fantasy and charming healing magic, that is in an all-white tone in addition to the introverted, calm power.

SUCCESS AT INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS AND ART MARKETS THE PURE AGE THAT DOMINATED THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET

After Returning from Germany, Nara held his first solo exhibition in Japan at Yokosuka Museum of Art in 2001, named “I Don’t Mind, If You Forget Me”. He gained his fame quickly after that, when his easy-to-understand slogans and images attracted many viewers. Since then, many international painting fairs and famous public art institutes have included his works, among them: Aomori Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, New York Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, The Art Institute of Chicago, British Museum, Contemporary Art Museum Malaga, Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, National Centre for Visual Arts in Paris, Neues Museum Nürnberg and Queensland Museum in Brisbane. His creations are also in private hands around the world, being sought after by many collectors. In October 2019, his paintings broke his own record, being sold at over US$ 25 million (more than NT$750 million). Meanwhile, one of his installations was sold at over US$ 5 million(more than NT$150 million). With these auction results, it is clear that Nara’s works have become new primary collectibles in the Asian market. With his unbound talents and his refusal to grow up, Yoshitomo Nara is continuing his brilliant life experiences.
Related Info

Modern & Contemporary Asian Art

Ravenel Spring Auction 2020 Taipei

Sunday, July 19, 2020, 2:30pm