YOSHITOMO NARA’S PINKY HEADLINES PHILLIPS’ MODERN & CONTEMPORARY ART EVENING SALE IN HONG KONG THIS SEPTEMBER
Created During Nara’s Defining Year of 2000, the Work Makes Its Auction Debut This Fall
Yoshitomo Nara
Pinky, 2000
acrylic on canvas, 160 x 145 cm.
Estimate: HK$60,000,000-80,000,000/ US$7,690,000-10,260,000
HONG KONG – 30 July 2025 – Phillips is pleased to announce that a seminal work by Yoshitomo Nara, Pinky, 2000, will be offered as a star lot of its upcoming Modern & Contemporary Art Evening Sale in Hong Kong on 27 September. Coming to the auction market for the very first time, this masterpiece epitomizes Yoshitomo Nara’s transformative breakthrough in the watershed year of 2000—when his return to Japan after 12 years in Germany marked a turning point, catalyzing international recognition and a surge in global exhibitions that cemented his role as a defining figure in contemporary art. Out of 33 paintings the artist created in 2000, only 11 share Pinky’s arresting "head-and-shoulders" composition. In this work, viewers meet the girl in blue, her pale dress eye-to-eye— a motif since the ’90s, evokes both innocence and quiet melancholy. The iconic hue feels softened here, like a memory gently fading.
Meiling Lee, Head of Modern & Contemporary Art, Asia, Phillips, said: “We are delighted to present Yoshitomo Nara’s Pinky, painted in the watershed year of 2000, the same year as Nara's two highest auction records. Directly succeeding in Volume I of his most extensive catalogue raisonne, the present work is the first of only four Pinky subjects in Nara’s entire oeuvre and the purest distillation of his lifelong meditation on solitude. The celebrated artist’s largest European retrospective to date is currently on view at the Hayward Gallery in London, now one of the city’s major cultural highlights this summer. We are thrilled to present this exceptional painting in our September Evening Sale, held in celebration of Phillips’ 10th anniversary in Asia, and look forward to achieving another standout result for the artist’s work.”
Nara’s Pinky, though seemingly simple at first glance, reveals emotional complexity through layered acrylic techniques that expose his hand in every brushstroke—from the ethereal background reminiscent of Peter Doig to hints of fuchsia bleeding through like remnants of creative struggle. The painting’s atmospheric softness mirrors musical influences, trading punk’s raw edge for the introspective tones of Nick Drake and Pink Floyd, while its title nods to both childhood innocence and punk rebellion.
Phillips is proud to have established itself as a leading auction house for Yoshitomo Nara in recent years, highlighted by the remarkable sales of Baby Blue sold for HK$45 million/ US$5.8 million, No Means No sold for HK$65.5 million/US$8.36 million, Lookin' for a Treasure sold for HK$ 84 million / US$ 11 million, Hothouse Doll for HK$ 103 million / US$ 13 million, and Missing in Action for HK$ 123.7 million/ US $ 16 million, which set the second-highest auction price for the artist.
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*Pinky will be on display at Phillips' London galleries in Berkeley Square from 1-14 August. Viewing hours are listed below:
1 Aug, 1pm-6pm | 4-14 August, Monday-Friday, 10am-6pm (closed on weekends)
Modern &Contemporary Art Hong Kong Evening Sale
Date: 27 September 2025
Location: G/F, WKCDA Tower, West Kowloon Cultural District, No. 8 Austin Road West, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Taipei preview: 13-14 September | Bellavita B1 Art Gallery B1F., No. 28, Songren Rd., Xinyi Dist., Taipei
Hong Kong preview: 22-28 September | G/F, WKCDA Tower, West Kowloon Cultural District, No. 8 Austin Road West
