Acrylic on wooden panel

135.5 x 82.5 cm. 53 3/8 × 32 1/2 in.

Signed in Japanese and dated on the reverse

LITERATURE
2012, Yoshitomo Nara: A Bit Like You and Me…, Foil Publishing Co., Ltd, Tokyo, p.26
2013, Yoshitomo Nara: The Complete BT Archives 1991-2013, Bijutsu Publishing House, Tokyo, p.696
2017, The World of Yoshitomo Nara, Seidosha Publishing House, Tokyo, p.140
EXHIBITED
14 Jul – 23 Sep 2012, Yoshitomo Nara: A Bit Like You and Me…, Yokohama Museum of Art, Yokohama
6 Oct 2012 – 14 Jan 2013, Yoshitomo Nara: A Bit Like You and Me…, Aomori Museum of Art, Aomori
26 Jan – 14 Apr 2013, Yoshitomo Nara: A Bit Like You and Me…, Contemporary Art Museum Kumamoto, Kumamoto

PROVENANCE
Blum & Poe Gallery, Los Angeles
Important Private Collection, Asia

Note: A label of Blum & Poe Gallery Los Angeles is affixed on the reverse

My Heroism
Artistic Monument to the Changing Aesthetics of Yoshitomo Nara – ‘Sprout'

Yoshitomo Nara is one of the most influential international artists today and the unique, pure and straightforward painting language he employs is recognized and loved around the world. Nara uses childhood experiences and memories as source material for his art, creating main protagonists imbued with a sense of fearlessness, self assuredness or helplessness. However, even as the artist reveals his inner voice to the world, the works also create a public resonance for the complex emotions hidden beneath simple appearances. Nara's paintings have been collected by nearly 40 top museums and public institutions globally, after huge commercial success. In 2019, his work sold for HK$191 million (US$24.6 million) at auction, making his works the most expensive of any contemporary Japanese artist.

First Time Appearing in Market – Collection of Nara's Achievements in Iconic Language

In 2000, Yoshitomo Nara completed 12 years of study in Germany. The works he produced around that time and after returning to Tokyo established him as an artist of international renown. In addition, pieces from the artist's Sprout the Ambassador and Night Walker series were widely sought-after in the art market. This year, Sprout (2011) is being auctioned for the first time, an outstanding work that brings together many of the classical elements that made the two earlier series so popular. This work comprehensively showcases Nara's growth over the preceding 20 years, whether in terms of painting skills, structural language or spiritual considerations. When the painting was completed it was exhibited at the Yokohama Museum of Art and the Aomori Museum of Art in 2012, which held a the important exhibition for the artist Yoshitomo Nara: A Bit Like You and Me. The work was later collected by an important private Asian collector, ensuring its provenance and underscoring the fact that its availability today offers art collectors a fleetingly rare opportunity.

Daughter of the Earth – An Emissary of Abundance and Love

“The reason Nara's works deeply appeal to me is not because I am a dedicated art amateur, but because they possess an infectiousness that touches the heart, without distinguishing between abstraction and representational, because what is most important is ‘the power of imagination'”
——Tomio Koyama

Against the pure skin-colored background of Sprout, Nara's iconic large-headed girl stands indomitable, like the statues of female saints in medieval churches, looking down and holding a newborn seedling in her hands. Her full-moon resplendent pink face and the downward pointing eyelashes on her symmetrical eyelids are ingeniously arranged to highlight changes in thickness, an allusion to the emotions bubbling underneath the tranquil exterior. Although Nara copies his simple style from the past, he intriguingly ensures the figure has a coherent and symmetrical structure. This is made up of the girl's large round head, the square shape formed by her touching arms, the trapezoid-shaped dress, and long straight legs. Of particular note is how the artist represents the legs. Indeed, these appear to almost grow directly out of the ground, as if absorbing the essence of the Earth, sun and moon, and this nourishment makes its way up to the clothed torso, where the bright orange of the dress highlights and showcases an enchanting radiance.

“Little Tree Sprouts” are a classical element that have featured in the paintings of Yoshitomo Nara for 30 years and first appeared in Sorry, just Not Big Enough in 1988. In this work, Nara imbues the green leaves with subjective spiritual meaning attached to the appearance of the girl. The budding leaves allude to the body of the young girl, with a large heavy head and light feet. The artist takes the energy emitted by the tender shoots as they grow and makes it concrete through the geometric shape of the body. In this sense, the girl is the personification of the little tree sprouts and as a daughter of the Earth grows big and strong.

“There is only one heroism in the world: to see the world as it is, and to love it.”
—— Romain Rolland

On March 11, 2011, Japan was hit by a huge earthquake that set in motion a series of disasters, including a tsunami and a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant which also impacted Nara's hometown of Aomori Prefecture. In the summer of 2011, the artist's father passed away, making Nara experience the insignificance of humanity. He found himself unable to paint and questioning the meaning of artistic creation. Interestingly, after finding calm and reflecting the artist's painting style underwent concrete changes. The cynical young girl of the past disappeared as if seeking reconciliation with the world, Nara's works started to embrace softer colors. Sprout was completed in the same year, making it not only a record of an historical natural disaster, but also an important testament to the transformation of the artist. At the same time, this work does not have the narrative asides, symbols and exaggerated expressions often used by Nara in the past. Instead, the main character is meditative and self-reflecting, showcasing a wisdom and awareness that comes with age. Indeed, the artist himself has noted that while the “tree sprout” in the painting is a symbol of new life, its oval shape also symbolizes the nuclear power plant burning in Fukushima. Indeed, new life after destruction offers viewers an even more profound commentary on destruction and construction being “two sides of one unity.”

Building on Past and Present, East and West

Tomio Koyama, who was the first to recognize the genius of Yoshitomo Nara in Japan, pointed out that his works are strongly influenced by classical and orthodox outlooks and this is clearly evident in Sprout. The rich, humorous colors and changes in brushwork in the piece are a product of the artist's thoughtful arrangement and great maturity rooted artist's in experience. Nara uses the singular bright color of the clothing to highlight the main character and the complexion of her face. This in turn brings to mind Madonna and Child by one of his favorite Renaissance painters Giotto di Bondone. In addition, the layered coloring technique, head-shape and expression of the main character is reminiscent of the chromatography of Ukiyo-e prints and ink painting figures since the Kamakura Period (1192-1333), such as the freehand shapes and exaggerated expressions in the works of Zen painter Sengai Gibon (1750-1837). This showcases the transformations and innovations introduced by Nara having embraced classical Eastern and Western artistic elements.

Real Life in Painting, Rebuilding After Collapse

For Yoshitomo Nara, one of the key aspects to creating art is establishing a connection to “a moment of now.” Moreover, this approach also influences the materials he chooses to work with. The artist's usage of wood in his official works can be traced back to the “A-Z” project undertaken with “Graf” Design Group in 2003. The natural texture of wood panels and the different extent to which they absorb color on canvas is extremely close to the technique of traditional “Ukiyo-e.” In Sprout, the wood panel precisely echoes the emotional mood in Japan after the 2011 disaster and urgent need to rebuild. In this sense, the natural pattern of the wood and the warm character of the material perfectly match the presentation of the girl in the painting as a calm, strong and resolute Earth Daughter. She protects the newborn seedling in her hands, an act of encouragement that seeks to remind us whenever we find ourselves in difficult circumstances there is always light, love and hope.

Price estimate:
HKD: 12,000,000 – 22,000,000
USD: 1,547,400 – 2,836,900

Auction Result:
HKD: 19,700,000