Page 199 - Swann Galleries - Modernist Posters - Sale 2314 - May 13, 2013

TADANORI YOKOO (1936- )
251 ● YUKIO MISHIMA, THE AESTHETICS OF END. 1966.
393/4x28 1/2 inches, 101x72 1/2 cm.
Condition A: minor stain in bottom margin; abrasions in image. Silkscreen. Paper. Signed and numbered
7 out of 20 by the artist in green pen. Framed.
The attitude of the Japanese toward marketing ingeniousness allowed Yokoo a kind of artistic freedom
he would have been hard pressed to find in western economies where marketing often acts to censor
creativity. Here, he is announcing the publication of a serialized essay by Yukio Mishima (the pen
name of Kimitake Hiraoka, one of the major Japanese avant-garde authors of the 20th century). The
image combines such classical Japanese graphic elements as the rising sun and a great wave with a
western-style locomotive and pin-up girl. Yokoo additionally designed book covers and other posters
for the author as well. In addition to his literary legacy, Mishima is also known for having committed
traditional suicide after a failed military coup. Tadanori Yokoo, p. 91, Musée de l’Affiche / Yokoo p.6,
MOMA 697.1966. [5,000/7,500]