High price for Ishida Tetsuya painting at Christie’s Amsterdam Postwar and Contemporary Art auction

On 8 April the painting Terremoto  by Japanese artist Ishida Tetsuya  (1973-2005) was sold in the Amsterdam auction rooms of Christie’s  and it became the auction’s top work. The final bid stopped at 253.500 euro (incl. commission), where the estimate in the auction house’s catalogue had been 30.000-50.000 euro.

The work, an oil on canvas, shows a figure of a young boy taking shelter below a school desk, while his teacher –shown in a miniature classroom setting on the surface of the school desk – continues teaching.

Ishida is known for his surrealist works, which often include self-portraits and give the viewer an uncanny feeling.  He sadly died very young due to a train accident, although it is also said it might have been suicide. In total his oeuvre counts a little over 186 paintings.

Key Hiraga (1936-2000), Untitled, 1971

In the same auction three other Japanese art works found a new owner:  two works by Kusama Yayoi and a painting by Japanese ‘pop’ artist Key Hiraga (1936-2000). For more information on Key Hiraga see my essay in The Elegant Life of Key Hiraga. A Japanese Artist in Europe 1965-1974 (London: Mayor Gallery / Amsterdam: Matthijs Erdman, 2008, pp. 7-11).

For Christies’ notes on Ishida’s painting, visit the online catalogue of the auction.