A painting by KAWS titled The KAWS Album featuring parody of the Simpsons, a popular television show sold by at Sotheby’s Hong Kong for $14.7 million dollars

The KAWS Album by KAWS sold for $14.7 Million at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in a week that shines more light on the artist at Art Basel

BY KAZAD

HONG KONG -An art collector recently paid a staggering $115.966 million HKD, or about $14.7 million dollars for a painting by KAWS. The painting titled The KAWS Album (2005) was sold during the Sotheby’s “NIGOLDENEYE” volume1″ sale. Estimated at 6,000,000 8,000, 000 HKD ($760, 000-$1 million), the work soared far beyond suggested estimates as the intense bidding continued.

The sale of the painting sets a new record for the artist’s work at auction, shattering the previous record of $2.7 million set by Untitled (Fatal Group), 2004. The painting, which represents KAWS take on the classic Fat Albert cartoon, was sold last November in New York at the Philips during its 20th-century evening sale.

KAWS -whose real name is Brian Donnell- has over the years created appropriated images of known albums for his works, and The Kaws Album is just one of them. It is based on the cover art for the Beatles album titled Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club (1967). 

The Kaws Album painting came from the personal collection of the Japanese streetwear entrepreneur, DJ and record produce Tomoaki Nagao popularly known as NIGO, whose registered trademark name is “NIGOLDENEYE”. That name appears in the title of the auction.

Nigo and KAWS have been friends since 1996 and was one of the early supporters of the artist’s works. In 2015, he commissioned The KAWS Album. The painting was one of the centerpieces of the  KAWS 2016 retrospective at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth that also traveled to the Yuz Museum in Shanghai.

Untitled (Kimpson) sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong

In all Thirty-three works were on sale during the auction. Majority of the lots were by Kaws. In addition to the works that sold for top prizes, other top lots included three parodies of the Simpson, a popular television show.  One of them was The Simpson in 2003. Untitled (Kimpsons) sold for $21.2 million HKD ($2.7 million), while Untitled #3 sold for $20.5 million HKD ($2.6 million). A Kimpsons Series also sold for 7.4 million HKD ($940,000). 

In total, the Sotheby’s sale grossed about 220 million HKD ($28 million). The sale of The KAWS Album painting helped the auction achieved its total cost. Also sold at the auction is Untitled (Astro Boy). Estimated at 600,000-800,000 HDK, it sold for 3,000,00 HKD.

The record-breaking sale at the Sotheby’s auction marked a continuation of what was an incredible time for KAWS in Hong Kong. His works were almost everywhere during Art Basel fair. In addition to the Sotheby’s auction, the Hong Kong Contemporary Art Foundation opened a survey exhibition Along The Way specifically focused on the artist’s works. The Italian curator Germano Celant organized it. Holiday, KAWS biggest work to date, also drew a massive crowd. The 115-foot-long inflatable based on “Companion”, one of the artist’s works was at Victoria Harbor, providing a perfect background for art lovers taking selfies. Although it was taken down two days before the end date because of bad weather condition, it was a major attraction.

In addition to collecting art, Nigo has also made a name for himself in the fashion world. He is the creator of the streetwear line- A Bathing Ape (BAPE). He is also the co-founder of the clothing label Billionaire Boys Club with the musician Pharrel.

The works offered at the Sotheby’s sale show Nigo’s affinity for art and streetwear. In addition to the paintings, five of the lots were sneakers, four of which were BAPE created in collaboration with KAWS. Two lots of two pairs of shoes went for 125,000HD ($15, 99 000). Stash (Four Pack), a digital print on canvas with spray paint cans sold for 112, 5000 HKD or about $143,490.92, surpassing the estimate of between 50,000-70,000 HKD

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