"TADANORI YOKOO - Clear Light September 1974", Japanese Contemporary Art Poster, Original Offset 1974, Ultra Rare, Size (c.69 x 103cm)
This is an original Japanese offset poster printed in 1974. This poster is ultra-rare and is displayed in the world’s most prestigious galleries such as MoMA in New York City. It is very difficult / almost impossible to find in any condition.
As held in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York.
https://www.moma.org/collection/works/60332
This offset lithograph was issued as part of Tadanori Yokoo’s legendary Clear Light portfolio published by Tokyo Planning in 1974. Printed in a limited edition of only 5,000 copies – the example offered here is hand-numbered 2846/5000 on the verso – each plate is considered one of the most spiritually and visually arresting works from Yokoo’s early-1970s period. Extremely difficult to locate in any state, especially complete and unbacked, the series embodies the psychedelic-mystic visual language that has made Yokoo a cornerstone of Japanese graphic design.
Japan Poster Shop has acquired a substantial and unique collection of original Tadanori Yokoo posters from one of the most prolific collectors in Japan – an individual who dedicated decades to assembling pristine examples of Yokoo’s vibrant designs.
Image & Iconography
Two haloed figures (after Gustave Doré’s Dante and Beatrice) stand in a moonlit meadow, bathed in a vertical shaft of divine light. Above them, twin platters of golden celestial fruit hover in the darkness like offering trays, their glowing rims evoking alchemical moons. The entire vision is encased within Yokoo’s opulent red-and-gold brocade border and faux-Persian calligraphy panels, blending Islamic manuscript ornament, Christian allegory, and psychedelic pop colour into a single, transcendent image.
Printing & Technique
Executed via offset lithography to capture Yokoo’s hyper-saturated palette and micro-line halftones, the sheet reveals delicate parallel bands that shimmer under raking light. Metallic bronze inks in the floral border emulate woven brocade, lending the print a rich textile aura.
Historical Context
Clear Light emerged shortly after Yokoo’s immersion in transcendental meditation and travels across India and the Middle East. The portfolio fuses Eastern mysticism, Persian miniatures, and Western religious imagery into a unified graphic language. Issued only once in 1974 as a boxed set of thirteen plates, individual sheets – particularly those clean and unmounted – are highly coveted by collectors of Japanese modernism and global psychedelia.
Condition
• Clean, unmounted, unbacked sheet with strong colour fidelity.
• Corners sharp; no tears, holes, or tape stains.
• Only the faintest handling crease visible under angled light – exceptional for a 50-year-old print.
Please refer to the imagery (both front and back) as this is the exact poster that is for sale.
It is over 51 years old!
It is not a reproduction or a reprint.
Certificate of Authenticity included.
