Izumi Kato - 20th Century & Contemporary Art & Design Day Sale Hong Kong Sunday, November 24, 2019 | Phillips
  • Provenance

    Residence Mirai, Berlin (in co-operation with Arataniurano Gallery, Tokyo)
    Acquired from the above by the present owner

  • Exhibited

    Berlin, Residence Mirai, Izumi Kato Paintings, 20-29 April 2012

  • Catalogue Essay

    As part of the body of works that were created during the artist’s tenure at the Residence Mirai Program in Berlin in 2012, these two works are most representative of Izumi Kato’s household subject - fascinating yet enigmatic creatures with embryo-like heads and fully developed limbs. Kato depicts these figures with a silhouette of anonymity, giving them strange oval-shaped faces with features rendered in simple forms and strong colours. His magical figures call to mind the primitive arts, with expressions that evoke totems and the animalist belief that a spiritual force runs through living and mineral worlds alike. Painted during the artist residency program in 2012 as part of an initiative where East Asian artists were given the opportunity to work in Berlin, as well as being introduced to the European market, the two works perfectly embody the artist’s growth and maturity since his participation in the Venice Biennale in 2007, further propelling him onto the international stage with an ever-increasing reputation as a new, complex and innovative artist.

104

Untitled

2012
signed, inscribed and dated ‘2012 KATO [in English and Kanji] Berlin' on the reverse
oil on canvas
65 x 55 cm. (25 5/8 x 21 5/8 in.)
Painted in 2012.

Estimate
HK$65,000 - 85,000 
€7,400-9,700
$8,300-10,900

Sold for HK$362,500

Contact Specialist
Danielle So
Associate Specialist, Head of Day Sale

20th Century & Contemporary Art & Design Day Sale

Hong Kong Auction 25 November 2019