Early Works
11 works
Yoshitomo Nara Tell Me Why For Sale
Yoshitomo Nara
Tell Me Why, 2015
About this work
Yoshitomo Nara's *Tell Me Why* (2015) exemplifies the Japanese artist's singular ability to channel complex emotional states through deceptively simple imagery. The work features Nara's signature wide-eyed child figure, rendered with the artist's characteristic economy of line and soft, muted palette. Yet beneath this apparent innocence lies a palpable tension—the subject's gaze carries both vulnerability and quiet defiance, embodying the psychological duality that has defined Nara's practice for over three decades. Emerging from Japan's Neo-Pop movement alongside Takashi Murakami, Nara developed a visual language deeply informed by punk rock culture, childhood memory, and a sense of alienation that resonates across cultural boundaries. His figures occupy an ambiguous emotional territory, simultaneously evoking nostalgia and unease, solitude and resilience. *Tell Me Why* channels this sensibility with particular clarity, its title suggesting an existential questioning that elevates the work beyond mere portraiture into something more searching and profound. Nara's market presence has strengthened considerably in recent years, with major retrospectives at institutions including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art cementing his position among the most significant contemporary artists working today. His works are held in prestigious collections worldwide and continue to command strong interest at auction and in the secondary market. For acquisition inquiries regarding *Tell Me Why*, please contact Guy Hepner directly.
Price on Application
Auction History
Tell Me Why (No. YNF5858) · Yoshitomo Nara · SBI Art Auction · 2026-05 · $84,284
Tell Me Why · Yoshitomo Nara · Christie's · 2020-06 · $32,258
More from this series
Yoshitomo Nara
After The Acid Rain Day
2010
Yoshitomo Nara
After The Acid Rain Night
2010
Yoshitomo Nara
Backwards And Forwards
2012
Yoshitomo Nara
Bad Meeting
2002
Yoshitomo Nara
Balance Girl
2014
Yoshitomo Nara
Banging The Drum
2002
Yoshitomo Nara
Beh
2003
Yoshitomo Nara
Bow Wow Wow
2015
Yoshitomo Nara
Broken Treasures
2012
Yoshitomo Nara
Cosmic Girl Eyes Closed
2008
Yoshitomo Nara
Cosmic Girl Eyes Open
2008
Yoshitomo Nara
Cosmic Girl Eyes Open Eyes Shut
2008
Yoshitomo Nara
Country Home
2011
Yoshitomo Nara
Damn It All
2012
Yoshitomo Nara
Dizzy On Wheels
2002
Yoshitomo Nara
Don t Cry
2012
Yoshitomo Nara
Don t Wanna Cry
2010
Yoshitomo Nara
Dream Time
2013
Yoshitomo Nara
Fight
2015
Yoshitomo Nara
Fuckin Politics
2003
Yoshitomo Nara
Fuckin Politics
2006
Yoshitomo Nara
Green Eyes
2002
Yoshitomo Nara
Guitar Girl
2003
Yoshitomo Nara
Gummi Girl Set Of 5
2006
Yoshitomo Nara
Gypsy Song
2010
Yoshitomo Nara
Hateful Christmas
2010
Yoshitomo Nara
Hope So
2014
Yoshitomo Nara
I Am Alone
2003
Yoshitomo Nara
I Don t Want To Grow Up
2010
Yoshitomo Nara
In The Clouds
2003
Yoshitomo Nara
Just A Little Bit
2013
Yoshitomo Nara
Life Is Only One
2010
Yoshitomo Nara
Marching On A Butterbur Leaf
2019
Yoshitomo Nara
Mushroom House
2014
Yoshitomo Nara
My Little Treasure
2010
Yoshitomo Nara
Night Walker
2002
Yoshitomo Nara
On The F Word
2002
Yoshitomo Nara
Over The Rainbow
2005
Yoshitomo Nara
Pain
2002
Yoshitomo Nara
Pissed Off
2010
Yoshitomo Nara
Poindexter
2010
Yoshitomo Nara
Rainy Day
2002
Yoshitomo Nara
S.O.S.
2010
Yoshitomo Nara
Sleepless Night Sitting
2007
Yoshitomo Nara
Spockie
2002
Yoshitomo Nara
Sprouts In Hands
2013
Yoshitomo Nara
Star Island
2003
Yoshitomo Nara
Straight Jacket
2002
Yoshitomo Nara
Tell Me
2014
Yoshitomo Nara
The Real One
2019
Yoshitomo Nara
Time Goes On
2002
Yoshitomo Nara
Untitled
2005
Yoshitomo Nara
Untitled Eye Patch
2012
Yoshitomo Nara
Untitled Omaha
2005
Yoshitomo Nara
Walk On
2010
Yoshitomo Nara
Words Mean Nothing At All
2016
Yoshitomo Nara
Y.N. Self Portrait
2002
More series by Yoshitomo Nara
About the Lithographs Series
Yoshitomo Nara Lithographs Prints For Sale
Yoshitomo Nara's lithographs represent the heart of his printmaking practice, featuring the artist's iconic wide-eyed children rendered with extraordinary sensitivity and emotional depth. Each lithograph captures the quiet defiance and vulnerability that has made Nara one of the most collected artists of his generation. Available at Guy Hepner, New York.
About Yoshitomo Nara
Yoshitomo Nara
Yoshitomo Nara (b. 1959, Hirosaki, Japan) stands as one of the most influential figures in contemporary Japanese art, whose deceptively simple portraits of wide-eyed children—at once innocent and subversively defiant—have become icons of the Neo-Pop movement. Trained in Düsseldorf and deeply influenced by punk rock and anime culture, Nara creates works that resonate across cultural boundaries, commanding an international collector base and record-breaking auction results. His paintings, drawings, and sculptures are held in major museum collections worldwide, cementing his position as a defining voice in 21st-century art.