Marker on paper

27.5×41.5 cm. 10 7/8×16 3/8 in.

Signed in Japanese and dated on bottom right
PROVENANCE
Arcana Bookstore, California
Acquired directly by present private Asian collector from the above

Smile in Every Moment
The Idealism and Original Intention of Yoshitomo Nara

"I never forget my original intention and even if that involves destroying everything I have no regrets. I want to stay true to my own inner self and always live in the moment".
— Yoshitomo Nara

Yoshitomo Nara is one of the best-known artists in the international contemporary art world. In 2010, he became the first Japanese artist to receive the prestigious "New York International Centre Prize" in recognition of his contribution to international art and culture and his works have since been collected by major museums around the world, including the British Museum in London, Museum of Modern art in New York and Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. Moreover, this year Nara's large retrospective touring exhibition visited the Guggenheim Museum Barcelona in Spain, Museum Frieder Burda in Baden-Baden, Germany and the Hayward Gallery in London. Over the past 20 years "Nara fever" has spread around the world and Japanese curator Mika Yoshitake commented: "I believe Nara's art has an unusual power to not only reach a mass audience, but also evaluate the meaning of human co-existence."

Unique Works from the Heart, An Artistic Language with Global Resonance

In 1981, Yoshitomo Nara attended Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music and lived in a small farmer's hut in a forest close to the school. Every day he played music at full volume, listening to the almost deafening rock ‘n' roll music while spontaneously moving his body to the rhythm and scribbling on every piece of paper he could find, drawing whatever came to mind and recording every moment of inspiration. Painting has always been an important tool for Nara to express his true emotions and real feelings, whether in childhood, when as a "latch-key kid" he often found himself home alone engaging in a self-dialogue by doodling, during the loneliness of student life at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf from 1988, or after returning to Japan and embracing life as a full-time artist in 2000. As such, his self-portraits are not only imbued with autobiographical meaning, but also an artistic maxim that underscores the artist's reflections on life and self-encouragement.

On this occasion, the three works being auctioned range from new innovative images to a meditation on the self, transcending two major artistic turning points embraced by Nara in the period before and after the New Millennium. Smiling Girl (Lot 8) was completed in 1993, when the artist was in Germany, remains his only known large paper fan piece and reflects his exploration of and innovative approach to form. There is also the soothing Aomori Dog Nara Note Book (Lot 7) from 2000 and Live for Moment (Lot 9) produced in 2006. These works showcase the artist's iconic quirky child images and a mature slogan-like style, which taken together reflect Yoshitomo Nara's profound reflections and self-breakthroughs in the field of art and life over a period of 13 years.

A Solitary Paper Fan Work: Contemporary Appeal Integrating Old and New

"If there is time to weep today, then tomorrow is for smiles."
— Yoshitomo Nara

In 1992, after being in Germany for five years, Nara's work at his graduation exhibition received universal acclaim. The "Big-headed Girl"image in the exhibition later became world renowned. In addition, this solitary narrative main figure, the artist's expressive ability to deduce simplicity for complexity and the tension of rough lines garnered him considerable praise while also establishing a classic vocabulary for the first golden age of Yoshitomo Nara. Meanwhile, Hong Kong art historian Yeewan Koon observes that the creation of this image simultaneously extended to the various ready-made works created by Nara in this period, for example record sleeve collections, books, toys etc. This not only reflected the humourous side of the artist's character, it also showcased his love of collecting things. The 1993 work Smiling Girl is one of the most notable works produced at this time. Moreover, because the piece was based on an antique Japanese fan collected by Nara, it remains the only paper fan-based work he has created, giving it particular import and meaning.

Unique Humour Integrating East-West

Yoshitomo Nara deliberately chose a large folding fan which when fully opened is 135cm in length, more than twice the size of a standard fan which usually measures around 50cm. Moreover, he ingeniously adapts materials to conditions, depicting a girl's face that fills almost the entire surface of the fan, while also using the girl's braids to extend the image outwards to either side. Her fair skin, flat-wide, distorted and compressed face and wide-open fish-like eyes, also bring to mind the cute and funny Otafuku masks from traditional Japanese Noh theater, highlighting the subtle way in which Japanese manga, traditional Ukiyo-e painting and theater imperceptibly impacted the creative work of Nara.

At the same time as he was in Germany being taught by A. R. Penck, Nara was also inspired by German neo-expressionism, employing thick black outlines to depict the main characters in works and utilizing this to fully enhance the existence of the main protagonist. A latticework imprint can be seen among the black outline and red lips of the girl, creating an overlaid-like image with a smudged texture, which makes the image even more lifelike.

Mysterious Smile: Fan-shaped Undulations

In the work a young girl with orange hair and braids smiles directly at viewers, the cute red-blushed cheeks, eyes like inlaid emeralds and upturned braids showcasing her excited expression, which is replete with yearning and expectation for the future. What is of particular note is that the natural folds of the fan also ensure the hair, eyes and expression of the young girl create a dynamic visual effect, as if she is greeting us with a smile and engaging in heart-to-heart dialogue, which is particularly moving.

Based on the overall combination of tradition and modernity, ready-made objects and painting, object and subject, Yoshitomo Nara imbues ancient objects with new meaning. Indeed, the work Smiling Girl brings to mind the idea that behind the little girl's smile lies some of the mystery and imaginings most often associated with Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, alluding to the energy and courage needed to face life with a smile. This work also represents an exquisite and bold experiment as Nara embraced an artistic change in the 1990s, indicating his respect for the traditional fan paintings of Asian tradition which he ingeniously combines with contemporary imagery in an important breakthrough, from which point he made the artistic leap to his next creative decade.

Relaxed Little Puppy, Healing My Heart

From the early 1990s, "Aomori Dog" images started to occasionally appear in the works of Yoshitomo Nara. In 2000, in the piece Nara Note Book, Nara depicted a cute lonely puppy for a friend in black marker pen, on the cover reverse of his collected art work publication "Ukiyo-e". In the pictures we see a puppy with its eyes closed as if lost in dreams, its front legs stretched out in front holding a bone, like it is embracing something greatly cherished but also seemingly sharing a valued treasure with viewers. The simple lines highlight Nara's mature dexterity, while the use of a red marker pen to add a finishing flourish to the tip of the dog's nose lights up a colourful world of dreams for the sleeping puppy.

Live in the Moment: A Four Word Proverb for the World

In about 2000 the artist started to keep a diary in which he often discussed his creative ideas: "Tomorrow will come, today I should paint today's work, be in the moment, right!" "One should not just put one's head down and rush into the future, but rather observe the future and depict it in the moment." Reading between the lines, Nara is encouraging himself to "seize the moment" and pour his feelings into creative work. Moreover, Live for Moment (2006) is a masterpiece that is deeply imbued with this core idea, speaking to self-encouragement, reflection, pushing oneself to be better and enlightenment.

Fearlessly Walking a Tightrope

On this brown coloured drawing paper, a short-haired child walks across a tightrope with her arms held out at either side, one foot on tiptoes, the other in the air feeling its way forward, as the girl strains to keep her body balanced. One eye looks upward, while the other is fixed on what lies below, with the corner of her tightly squeezed lips revealing what seems to be nervousness, though this could also be determination to overcome difficulty and an unbending will to not accept defeat, as she makes her way along the rope. Above the girl is a huge tangerine slogan "Live for Moment," in clear sonorous lettering, a deep and in-your-face statement about the artist's reflections on life. In this sense, the work abandons background layout and other narrative building in favour of concise and powerful words and an instantly understandable image that are replete with the energy of a cartoon and the eye-catching nature of a warning sign, while also being full of allegorical meaning: life is like traversing an endless tightrope. The right side represents the past, while the left is the future and the only thing that can be controlled is "the moment." As long as every step taken in the moment is steadfast and solid there is no fear of what lies ahead, even if we find ourselves walking a tightrope.

The A to Z of Art and Life's Journey

An overview of the artistic works of Yoshitomo Nara shows that he has inscribed the slogan "Live for Moment" on his works a total of seven times and repeatedly emphasized the fact that all his works speak to personal reflection on a specific moment in time and as such are intimately connected to what the artist was experiencing at that moment. In this context, Live for Moment is no exception. This work was completed in 2006 when Nara held the large epic solo exhibition Yoshitomo Nara + graf: A to Z at Hirosaki City, Aomori Prefecture in Japan. At this event, the artist focused on the beginning and end point of his life's work, building 26 "A to Z" small huts, each filled with the paintings, large sculptures, ceramic and installation works created by the artist over his long artistic career. "Through this group creation experience I was able to really return to an individual state of mind and this made me realize more clearly than ever before the importance of facing ‘oneself'."

A Return to Original Intention, Forging Ahead

For Yoshitomo Nara, "Live for the Moment" is an injunction to assiduously complete each work, whether the breakthroughs in form seen in Smiling Girl, the creation of the "Aomori Dog" image or the loud declaration of his inner feelings in Live for Moment. Nara always gives everything he has emotionally, emphasizing indelible life spirit to his audience: face everything with a smile, do not worry about the past, never fear the future, do not forget your original intention and keep forging ahead.

Price estimate:
HKD 40,000 – 60,000
USD 5,100 – 7,700

Auction Result:
HKD: 84,000