Acrylic and silver foil on canvas

195 x 130 cm. 76 7/9 x 51 1/6 in.

Signed in English and dated on the reverse
EXHIBITED
7 – 29 Apr 2007, Ultra New Visions – Hiroyuki Matsuura Solo Exhibition, ESLITE Gallery, Taipei

PROVENANCE
Eslite Gallery, Taipei
Important Private Collection, Asia

This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by the artist issued by Taipei Eslite Gallery

Blue Eyes Soul: an Unfinished Dream
Hiroyuki Matsuura: the Man who Gave New Life to Anime

Matsuura was born in Tokyo in 1964 and started painting in 1999. In 2001, the scout prize he won at Takashi Murakami's “GEIJUTSU-DOUJOU/GP at MOT” brought him significant fame, and in 2004, he participated (and gained even greater recognition) alongside Nara Yoshitomo in Fiction.Love: Ultra New Vision in Contemporary held by the Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei and curated by the famous Lu Jung-chih. Later, from 2005 to 2010, he held large-scale solo exhibitions at venues such as Tokyo Gallery and the Taipei Eslite Gallery. His works have been included as part of the Shanghai Long Museum collection.

The white background of Blue Eyes Soul featured in this auction, reflects minimalist and tranquil Japanese aesthetics. The artist drew the outline of the character with a thick black line and adorned the boundary between the character and the background with delicate silver foil, adding a sense of grandeur to the simple image. The protagonist stands on one foot, rests his cheek on his hand, and has his head slightly tilted: this playful gesture is reminiscent of the flirty poses of women featured in ukiyo-e of the Edo period. However, instead of a gorgeous kimono, he is wearing Mickey Mouse overalls with a bunny tail, evoking the aesthetics of modern anime. The character's golden bangs are similar to Matsuura's own haircut, which presents the artist's own self-consciousness in his painting. Matsuura combined Japanese traditional style with current artistic trends to form a whimsical image that transcends the definition of anime.

Price estimate:
HKD: 180,000 – 250,000
USD: 23,000 – 31,900

Auction Result:
HKD: 212,400