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Lot Essay
Politically pressured by Western powers in the 19th century, Japan could no longer keep its longstanding closed country policy. As it opened up to the world, Japanese culture was exported to Western society. One of the best examples in art is the Ukiyo-e images printed on the packages of tea. The works of artists such as Katsushika Hokusai emphasise flatness in modelling, vibrant colours, and Eastern compositions. These elements deeply influenced many Impressionist artists. Van Gogh is known to insert elements of Ukiyo-e into his work. The emergence of the Japonisme movement indicates the degree of popularity of Japanese art in Europe at the time.
In the 20th century, Japanese artists began to be considered as international masters: works by Gutai artists, Yayoi Kusama, Takashi Murakami, and Yoshitomo Nara are widely collected by connoisseurs from different countries. As seen in the Day Sale Property from an European Private Collection of Japanese Art, the diversity in creative expressions in Japanese art is celebrated by contemporary Western collectors. Three works by Yoshitomo Nara from the early 1990s are the testaments to the collector's keen eye for talent. Devil Calling (Lot 174), Untitled (Lot 175), and A Girl (Lot 176) all demonstrate the sense of freedom in execution in early Nara's works. The distortion in figure-modelling and emphasis on adorableness are features that consistently appear throughout Nara's career. Human Paradise II-32 (Lot 172) by Tetsutaro Kamatani invokes the mesmerising colours of divinity to seduce the gaze of the viewers and compel them to forget the mundane world. Atsushi Suwa breathes a sense of life into the figures with this incredibly delicate naturalistic depictions. In Déjà Vu (Lot 173), the artist delves deeply into the background of the sitter and represents a reality that is truthful both inside and outside.
In the 20th century, Japanese artists began to be considered as international masters: works by Gutai artists, Yayoi Kusama, Takashi Murakami, and Yoshitomo Nara are widely collected by connoisseurs from different countries. As seen in the Day Sale Property from an European Private Collection of Japanese Art, the diversity in creative expressions in Japanese art is celebrated by contemporary Western collectors. Three works by Yoshitomo Nara from the early 1990s are the testaments to the collector's keen eye for talent. Devil Calling (Lot 174), Untitled (Lot 175), and A Girl (Lot 176) all demonstrate the sense of freedom in execution in early Nara's works. The distortion in figure-modelling and emphasis on adorableness are features that consistently appear throughout Nara's career. Human Paradise II-32 (Lot 172) by Tetsutaro Kamatani invokes the mesmerising colours of divinity to seduce the gaze of the viewers and compel them to forget the mundane world. Atsushi Suwa breathes a sense of life into the figures with this incredibly delicate naturalistic depictions. In Déjà Vu (Lot 173), the artist delves deeply into the background of the sitter and represents a reality that is truthful both inside and outside.