Nara Yoshitomo

signed in Japanese, titled in English and dated 98 on the reverse

Blum and Poe, Los Angeles
Acquired by the present owner from the above

Yoshitomo Nara: The Complete Works 1984 - 2010, Bijutsu Shuppan Sha, Tokyo, Japan, 2011, p. 148

This work is generally in good condition with minor wear in handling along the lower edges. There is one minor stain near the top right corner. When examined under ultraviolet light, there appears to be no evidence of restoration.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

A Bit Like Me and A Bit Like You
Nara Yoshitomo

I often hear many people say while looking at my work, "Oh, this is me!" [...] Therefore, my works are "a bit like me" and "a bit like you" [...] and yet each of them has its own self, being "a work of art for its own sake." – Nara Yoshitomo¹

Strikingly iconic and endearing, S-Girl (Lot 719) is a quintessential Nara Yoshitomo portrait from the artist's universally resonant oeuvre. Created in 1998, the painting hails from the artist's 1990s Germany era where he developed his signature style of a single figure placed squarely at the centre of a neutral monochrome background. During this period, the solitude of Nara's first experience of living overseas not only made him recall the loneliness of his childhood; it also, as the artist writes, enabled him to restore a "sense of my true self" that he had almost forgotten because of his sense of "being watched by other people" while living in Japan.²

Such a statement injects heightened introspective meaning to Nara's oeuvre while also engaging with memory and nostalgia. Critic Matsui Midori writes that the magic of Nara lies in his ability to retrieve "a child's imagination and sense of the body",³ a feat which enables his work to immediately awaken viewers' nostalgia for their childhood. Donning a striking red dress, S-Girl glares at us, defiant yet adorable, her tiny hands balled up in fists of fury: a self-portrait of the artist, a mediator to summon up his true self, as well as a portrait of all of us in purer, more vulnerable, days.

¹ The artist quoted in exh. cat. Nara Yoshitomo: a bit like you and me..., Japan, 2012, p. 13

² Refer to 1, p. 129

³ Matsui Midori, "A Gaze from Outside: Merits of the Minor in Yoshitomo Nara's Painting", in exh. cat. I Don't Mind, if You Forget Me, Kyoto, 2001, p. 170