Oil on canvas

80 × 100 cm. 31 1/2 × 39 3/8 in.

Signed in English and dated on bottom left
PROVENANCE
White Stone Gallery, Hong Kong
Acquired directly by present private Asian collector from the above

The Temperature of Passing
A Rainbow Portrait by Etsu Egami

Born in Tokyo in 1994, Etsu Egami has already made a name for herself in the contemporary art world. In 2019 she was shortlisted as the youngest artist ever to be selected as a finalist for the Sovereign Art Foundation's Sovereign Asian Art Prize in Hong Kong. Later in 2020, she was chosen to exhibit her work at the prestigious Vision of Contemporary Art (VOCA) exhibition in the Ueno Royal Museum in Japan. The VOCA exhibition has significantly impacted the Japanese art scene, featuring artists such as Yoshitomo Nara, Ayako Rokkaku and Tomoo Gokita. They are now leading figures in the Japanese art world. In 2020, Egami was listed in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list as the youngest artist and, in the same year, was selected by the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs as a distinguished artist to be sent to New York. Her works have been exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Grand Palais in Paris, the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing, and are in the collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art in KARUIZAWA, Tokyo, the Central Academy of Fine Arts Art Museum, and more.

Etsu Egami is currently studying in the PhD programme at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing under the tutelage of Liu Xiaodong and also studied abroad at the Karlsruhe University of Art and Design in Germany. Studying and living in different countries and social environments have led to her concern for the misunderstandings that arise from communication in different cultures and language environments. With her ever-changing and energetic brushwork, she draws portraits of the "rainbow". She draws a "rainbow" of portraits with his ever-changing and vigorous brushstrokes. Her unique approach to deconstruction has attracted millennial collectors' attention, and her works are hard to find on the primary market. This autumn auction presents Confusion by Brushing Past 2019-128, a classic portrait from her eponymous series.

In the painting, the artist used rainbow-coloured solid lines to create a short-haired girl whose round, young face is visible through the curling lines. Her eyes are slightly closed, revealing an unawareness of the world and a refusal to communicate. Although the girl's expression reveals her detachment, the warm tones of soft orange and pink create a sense of life. The unrestrained lines instantly embrace viewers and can make a sincere "face-to-face" communication with the girl in the painting.

Price estimate:
HKD: 100,000 - 200,000
USD: 12,700 - 25,500

Auction Result:
HKD: 192,000