Yoshitomo Nara’s “In the Milky Lake / Thinking One” is set to go to auction in New York on November 19. Fair Warning will offer the 102-by-71-inch canvas, the largest painting by the Japanese artist ever to reach auction. It could fetch $15 million, according to the sale estimate cited in the auction listing. The work has been held in a private collection for 14 years.
The painting is Nara’s only large-scale canvas from 2011, the year an earthquake and tsunami devastated parts of northeastern Japan, where he grew up. The disaster left him unable to paint for a time. After returning to his studio, Nara shifted from the mischievous, confrontational children associated with his work toward quieter, more introspective figures.
The canvas depicts a girl looking downward, her shoulders slightly raised. Her oversized head is set against a cream-colored background that becomes pale water around her waist, rendered in thin layers of translucent color. In remarks shared by Fair Warning, Nara said that disasters such as earthquakes or wars can briefly bring normally hidden things into view.
The painting featured in Nara’s 2012 survey across Yokohama, Aomori and Kumamoto, and in retrospectives at institutions including LACMA, Guggenheim Bilbao, Museum Frieder Burda and the Hayward Gallery. Nara also selected it for his 2015 book, “Self-Selected Works: Paintings.”
Before the auction, the work will be shown at Fair Warning’s space at 534 West 22nd Street in Chelsea from November 6 to 19. The exhibition opens with a reception on November 5 from 6 to 8 p.m.
Sources: Hypebeast.