Nara Yoshitomo, Kim Tschang-yeul works head K Auction's November sale

Nov. 25 auction features 118 works valued at about 12.6 billion won

Nara piece opens at 1.7 billion won

Kim Tschang-yeul work estimated at 1.3–1.8 billion won

Nara Yoshitomo's "Slash with a Knife." [K Auction]

Works by Nara Yoshitomo, Kim Tschang-yeul, Kim Whanki and other leading Korean and international artists will come to auction this month.

K Auction will hold its November sale Nov. 25 at its headquarters in Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, offering 118 works valued at about 12.6 billion won ($9.46 million).

Among the highlights is "Slash with a Knife," a 1998 work by Nara Yoshitomo, one of the defining figures of contemporary Japanese art. The painting depicts a wide-eyed, broad-foreheaded child dangling a small knife while casting a sidelong glance — a defiant expression shaped by the folk-rock and punk music Nara grew up listening to. The title is borrowed from a song by Japanese punk-rock band The Star Club. The estimate is available on request, and bidding opens at 1.7 billion won.

Kim Tschang-yeul's "Waterdrop BAA N°5." [K Auction]

"Waterdrop BAA N°5" (1976), a size-150 canvas by Kim Tschang-yeul — known as the painter of waterdrops — also goes under the hammer. Droplets of varying size and spacing cover the entire surface, their lit and shadowed areas rendered on linen so convincingly that they appear to have formed there. The estimate is 1.3 billion to 1.8 billion won. Three additional works by Kim, from 1986, 2002 and 2018, are also on offer.

"Untitled" (1969) by Kim Whanki, a pioneer of Korean abstract art, dates from his New York period. Blue-toned lines cross the canvas in a cruciform pattern, with red and ochre planes filling the intersection. The estimate is 760 million to 1.5 billion won. Also included are his 1968 work "28-I-68 I," estimated at 52 million to 150 million won, and "Composition," a size-1 canvas opening at 60 million won.

Seven works by Lee Ufan, who turns 90 this year, are on offer. The group includes two size-100 canvases of "Correspondence" (1996), two watercolor-on-paper "Untitled" works, one terracotta "Untitled" from 2019, and two painted ceramic "Untitled" pieces. The estimate for "Correspondence" is 520 million to 800 million won.

Works by Lee Kun-yong and Lee Kang-so, leading figures of Korea's experimental art scene in the 1970s, are also featured. Lee Kun-yong's 2021 work "Bodyscape 76-3-2021" carries an estimate of 95 million to 140 million won. Lee Kang-so's 2006 piece "From an Island-06011" is estimated at 80 million to 140 million won.

The sale rounds out with works by Kusama Yayoi, Yun Hyong-keun, Chun Kyung-ja, Chang Ucchin and Chung Sang-hwa, alongside traditional Korean paintings and antiques.

pink@heraldcorp.com