Yoshitomo Nara’s Green Eyes of 2002 captures a childlike figure with a freckled face and slight smirk, displaying both innocence and stoic defiance. The crossed plasters – one stuck to the cheek and two floating in the sky – recall the scrapes and bumps of childhood adventures, perhaps from tumbles in the playground, suggesting themes of both childhood vulnerability and resilience. The vivid blue backdrop, fading at the edges, feels like an endless summer sky, framing the figure in a world of imagination and nostalgia.
“Through painting representational features such as eyes, noses, and mouths, I wanted to express something deeper. This deeper thing cannot be described with language. Yet, people will understand.”
— Yoshitomo NaraNara’s broader practice centres on his recurring childlike figures, who embody a delicate balance between innocence and rebellion. The artist grew up in a remote town in picturesque Aomori, the northernmost province of Japan, located approximately 700 kilometers north of Tokyo. He has recalled a profound loneliness in his childhood; “When you are a kid, you are too young to know you are lonely, sad, upset,” said Nara, “…now I know I was.” His young characters are reflective of this notion, each image a glimpse into another facet of his internal psyche. At the same time, the vivid colours and clean compositions typical of his style make these emotions feel both personal and universal, inviting viewers to reflect on their own inner worlds. Often depicted alone, these characters inhabit quiet, self-contained worlds, amplifying their emotional intensity and individuality. With unwavering gazes and subtle signs of defiance, such as the crossed plasters in Green Eyes, Nara’s figures give voice to the raw, unfiltered emotions of childhood, from vulnerability and frustration to pride and resilience.
Katsushika Hokusai, The Lake at Hakone in Sagami Province from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, 1830-32, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Image: © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Rogers Fund, 1914, JP17. Green Eyes is one of Nara’s twelve etchings printed in collaboration with master printer Hitoshi Kido at KIDO Press Gallery in Tokyo. Executed early in the artist’s career, they were his first series of etchings and Nara drew on the original etching plates himself, unlike for later editioned prints. The body of work innovatively draws on the wealth of traditional Japanese printmaking techniques while utilising etching, aquatint, drypoint, and more. Discussing the process of making Green Eyes, Kido said:
“The background of the work Green Eyes features a sky-blue bokashi (a blurring technique used in ukiyo-e). To express the distant sky that the girl with a bandage on her cheek is gazing at, I incorporated the traditional ukiyo-e technique of ichimonji bokashi which creates a blurring effect resembling the kanji character for the number one. Instead of applying paint to create this effect, the artist and I successfully achieved variations in tone on the plate by using an etching chemical, ferric chloride, in a gradient. Yoshitomo Nara had never hesitated to try new techniques, and he never failed.”
To read more about Yoshitomo Nara’s collaboration with KIDO Press Gallery, read our interview with master printer Hitoshi Kido here.“Yoshitomo Nara had never hesitated to try new techniques, and he never failed.”
— Hitoshi KidoLiterature
Noriko Miyamura and Shinko Suzuki E-2002-013
Property from the collection of KIDO Press
1
Green Eyes (M. & S. E-2002-013)
2002
Etching, aquatint and drypoint in colours, on wove paper, with full margins.
I. 30.5 x 22.5 cm (12 x 8 7/8 in.)
S. 49 x 38.5 cm (19 1/4 x 15 1/8 in.)
Signed, dated and numbered 'A.P. 4/7' in pencil (an artist's proof, the edition was 35), published by KIDO Press, Inc., Tokyo, unframed.
Estimate
HK$120,000 - 200,000
€14,700-24,400
$15,400-25,600
Sold for HK$152,400
Nick Wilson
Senior Director, Head of Editions, Photographs and Design, Asia
nickwilson@phillips.com
+852 2318 2022
Editions, Photographs and Design
Hong Kong Auction 12 December 2024
44
This lot is no longer available.