Million-dollar doodles on the wall: you can look but no pictures
Yoshimoto Nara’s drunken scribbles on the walls of a bar in New York are estimated to be worth millions
On Sunday in Hong Kong, an artwork depicting a super-flat painting of a surly, glaring girl with large green eyes, barefoot and dressed in a red dress sold for $25m at Sotheby’s. The work, titled Knife Behind Back, is arguably the most famous image created by Japanese street artist Yoshimoto Nara and smashed the previous auction record for his work by a staggering $21m.
It has also had unforeseen consequences for the owners of Niagara, a cult punk bar located in New York’s East Village. A decade ago, while in town for a gallery show, Nara decided to unwind after installing his show by having a few drinks at Niagara...
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