Yoshitomo NaraWhat is Going On? (from the series In the Floating World) 1999 by Yoshitomo Nara1999
1999
About the Item
Yoshitomo Nara (1959)
What’s Going On? (from the series In the Floating World), 1999
Medium: Fuji Xerox copy
Sheet: 41.5 × 29.5 cm (16 3/8 × 11 5/8 in)
Edition: 26/50 (plus 10 A.P.)
Signature / inscriptions: Signed and dated lower left: ãªã‚‰ 99; inscribed upper left: What’s / going / on?; lower part: I don’t know / オランダ犬ãªã‚Š
Publisher: Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo
Literature:
Online catalogue raisonné, Yoshitomo Nara Foundation, YNF2563
BSS No. E-1999-006
Collection:
Other specimens of the same edition are held by the following public institutions:
高橋コレクション / Takahashi Collection (edition tbc); ヌサンタラ近ç¾ä»£ç¾Žè¡“館（マãƒãƒ£ãƒ³ç¾Žè¡“館） / Museum MACAN (Ed. 47/50); ピーボディ・エセックス・ミュージアム/ Peabody Essex Museum, Gift of the estate of Mark A. Fischer, 2016.34.16.16 (edition tbc)
Description
A kimono-clad figure stands beneath the scrawled question “What’s going on?†Her face is bloodied, a small but shocking detail that cuts through the elegance of the costume and pushes the scene toward unease. Nearby, a seated woman wears on the back of her kimono a stylized road sign, as if everyday street symbols have wandered into a traditional picture. Around them, simple motifs—a boxed flower labeled “I don’t know†and a toy-like dog—add a dry, almost deadpan humor.
Nara builds the image from clear outlines, flat color, and quick, handwritten text, borrowing the look of old Japanese prints while introducing the blunt, immediate feel of contemporary graphics. The result is a picture that feels both familiar and off-kilter: refined pattern and costume on one side; confusion, injury, and modern signage on the other. It reads like a snapshot of late-1990s anxiety—poised, witty, and slightly menacing—where tradition and the present moment collide on the same sheet.
Context
Created in 1999, this print exemplifies Nara’s late-’90s approach of reframing the historical “floating world†through present-tense uncertainty and wit—using xerographic reproduction to emphasize speed, rawness, and an intentionally unvarnished graphic impact—while remaining a self-contained statement within the In the Floating World group.
Provenance
北å·ç”»å»Š, Tokyo
Purchased from the above by the previous owner in 2014
New Art Est-Ouest, Hong Kong
Purchased from the above
Condition
Naked-eye: Very good condition.Blacklight: No restoration detected.Report: Image clear with normal contrast and accurate color; no fading, smudging, creases, mold, water damage, insect damage, edge wear, or cracking observed. Paper lays flat with neat edges and no notable aging or brittleness. Surface “softening†reads as original to the artist’s intent; no post-manufacture softening. Ink/toner stable with crisp details.
- Creator:Yoshitomo Nara (1959, Japanese)
- Creation Year:1999
- Dimensions:Height: 16.34 in (41.5 cm)Width: 11.62 in (29.5 cm)
- Medium:
- Period:
- Condition:In excellent condition, with no evident damages or signs of aging. Framed.
- Gallery Location:Hong Kong, HK
- Reference Number:Seller: YON-0161stDibs: LU1545217294802
Yoshitomo Nara
Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara is one of the most influential artists to emerge from Japan's Pop art movement in the 1990s. Drawing inspiration from the anime and manga characters that he was exposed to during his childhood, Nara creates characters, usually small children, who possess similar cartoonish qualities, with highly stylized features and especially large eyes. However, Nara's illustrations of children, who are often brandishing weapons, are often more menacing and devilish than they are cute and innocent.
Nara has assembled a cult-like following centered around his childlike illustrations although the themes surrounding his work touch on broader social and cultural topics such as violence and the rigidity of social structures in Japan. While he works mainly in painting and drawing, he also experiments in sculpture and installations.
Since his first solo exhibition at Blum and Poe Gallery in 1984, Nara has had nearly 40 solo exhibitions worldwide, from Iceland to Japan to France to the United States.
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