A large-scale portrait by Japanese contemporary artist Yoshitomo Nara, "Nothing about it," sold for 15 billion won ($10.5 million) at a Seoul Auction special sale on the 31st, setting a new all-time record for art auctions in South Korea.
The sale, titled "Contemporary Art Sale," drew significant attention as the largest auction ever held in the country, with total low estimates for all lots reaching 51 billion won. Lot No. 38, Nara's work, was offered with an estimate of 14.7 billion to 22 billion won and a starting price of 14.7 billion won, ultimately selling for 15 billion won. The painting depicts a child with Nara's signature large, upturned eyes staring directly at the viewer. The image transcends a simple character, symbolizing resistance, innocence and the fundamental solitude of modern humanity. "Oddly Cozy," a work of nearly identical imagery and the same dimensions (194×162 cm) produced around a similar period, sold for HK$112 million (approximately 18 billion won) at Sotheby's Hong Kong auction in April 2022. Nara's personal auction record surpassed 35 billion won in 2019.
The previous domestic auction record had been held by Marc Chagall's "Bouquet de Fleurs," which sold for approximately 9.4 billion won at Seoul Auction in November last year. Seoul Auction had also achieved major results through its Hong Kong sales, hammering down Louise Bourgeois's sculpture "Quarantania" for approximately 9.5 billion won (HK$67 million) in October 2018 and Roy Lichtenstein's oil painting "Still Life with Woodcut, Mirror and Fruit Bowl" for 9.3 billion won (HK$62 million) in October 2008.
Another work at the same sale also exceeded the 10 billion won mark. Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama's 2015 painting "Pumpkin" sold for 10.45 billion won. The work, measuring 100-ho in size, carried an estimate of 9.5 billion to 15 billion won. With these results, both the No. 1 and No. 2 all-time domestic auction records were rewritten in a single sale.
Although some lots were withdrawn, the sell-through rate remained high at 75.5%. Total sales reached approximately 36.8 billion won.