DORAMICHAN's ribbon was taken by GIAN, 2002

Yoshitomo Nara began painting rebellious girls in the 1990s, drawing inspiration from Japanese manga cartoons, Disney films, and punk rock music to imbue his characters with a mixture of innocence and defiance. The girls in Nara’s portraits can often be found playing with weapons, smoking cigarettes, or dreaming in bed—all with a signature cuteness (or kawaii) that reflects the artist’s Japanese heritage. For Nara, his signature girls have become more than just his muse. “They are all self-portraits in a way,” he says. “But the emotions that I feel can, of course, be universal.” Nara’s portraits of girls are among his most popular motifs on the market. His portrait of a twinkling girl The Little Star Dweller (2006) set the artist’s auction record, fetching over $3.4 million including fees at Christie’s in 2015.