"Yoshitomo Nara Work Fetches 15 Billion Won, Surpassing Chagall to Set New Domestic Record"

Financial News – Yoshitomo Nara’s work "Nothing about It" was sold for 15 billion won, setting a new record for the highest price ever achieved at an art auction in Korea.
On the 31st, Seoul Auction announced that Nara’s 2016 painting "Nothing about It" sold for 15 billion won at its curated auction titled "Contemporary Art Sale" held that day.
The work had been estimated at between 14.7 billion and 22 billion won. This is the first time in the Korean auction market that a hammer price has exceeded 10 billion won.
"Nothing about It" is a large-scale painting (194 × 162 cm) by Yoshitomo Nara, a leading figure in contemporary Japanese art. It depicts one of his signature children with large upturned eyes staring straight ahead, and the image is seen as symbolizing resistance, innocence, and the fundamental loneliness of modern life, going far beyond a simple character.
The previous domestic auction record was held by Marc Chagall’s painting "Bouquet de Fleurs," which sold for about 9.4 billion won at Seoul Auction in November last year. "Nothing about It" has now far surpassed that mark.
"Nothing about It" features one of Nara’s most iconic characters and has consistently pushed his price ceiling in the global auction market, so it drew strong interest even before the sale.
Another work exceeding 10 billion won also appeared in the auction that day.
That piece was "Pumpkin," a 2015 work by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, which sold for 10.45 billion won. Measuring size 100, it had been estimated at 9.5–15 billion won.
newssu@fnnews.com Kim Su-yeon Reporter