LEE U-FAN Untitled

• LOT

  864

• Artist

  LEE U-FAN ( 1936 - )

• Estimate

  1,800,000 - 3,600,000 90,000 - 180,000 94,737 - 189,474 360,000 - 720,000 12,000 - 24,000

  JPY RMB HKD TWD USD

• Result

  JPY5,500,000

• Details

  pencil on paper　framed　1979
  signed and dated
  inscribed with "No.7908" and signed on the reverse (confirmed by pre-framing photo)
  Provenance: gallery TAKAGI, Nagoya
  
  This work, Untitled, is a prime example of Lee Ufan's drawings from the late 1970s, delicately visualizing reflections and gestures through the use of line. The composition features a series of hand-drawn pencil strokes arranged at regular intervals, quietly resonating with repetition and subtle variation. During this period, Lee pursued the idea that a painting is not merely a "depicted object" but an "event that occurs" within space, expressed through the presence of brushstrokes and materials themselves. In this piece, each line has a clear starting and ending point, but with slight wavering, conveying a sense of embodiment and temporality. Created in 1979, a time when Lee was gaining international recognition in both Japan and Korea, this work embodies his philosophical approach condensed into the minimal means of drawing. The lack of a formal title reflects his consistent practice of avoiding fixed meanings, encouraging viewers to engage with the act of seeing and contemplating itself. The inscription "No.7908" on the verso indicates Lee's system of cataloguing his works, revealing the methodical production process in his studio at the time.
  
  LEE U-FAN, internationally acclaimed artist and representative of the Mono-ha movement. He came to Japan in 1956 to study philosophy at Nihon University, where he absorbed a wide range of Eastern and Western thought and literature and became a driving force behind a trend known as the Mono-ha. He had solo exhibitions at some of the world's most prominent museums, including the Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA in 2011 and the Centre Georges Pompidou, Metz, France in 2019. In 2010, he opened the Lee Ufan Museum in Naoshima, Japan, in collaboration with ANDO TADAO. He opened the Gallery called Space LeeUFan on the grounds of the Busan Municipal Museum of Art.
  Major Collections: The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, Guggenheim Museum; Centre Pompidou; Tate Gallery; National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo; National Museum of Art, Osaka; National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto
  
  28.0×75.5cm
  (11 × 29 ¾ in.)　

• Organizer

  Jo's Auction

• Auction

  Jo’s Auction Autumn Auction of Art Works 2025

• Catalog

  Contemporary Art/Modern&Post-War Art

• Date

  2025/10/23