TAKASHI MURAKAMI (b. 1962)










Provenance
Private Collection, Commissioned by Artist, 2014History
In the world of art-speak, icon and iconic are words as popular as they are overused. Derived from the ancient Greek word ‘eikon’ meaning, ‘a likeness or image’, its definition has clearly changed over time. That’s not unexpected. But consider how we think of iconic in a contemporary context. Accept that it refers to highly original, influential, or unique works of art and artists that are well-established and widely celebrated in popular culture, and Takashi Murakami just might be the most iconic artist working today. Time magazine thought so. In 2008, it named him one of the hundred most influential people in the world; the only visual artist included on the list.
Of course, if Murakami is under consideration as the world’s most iconic twenty-first century artist, the breadth of that acknowledgement depends on the crowded skeins of colorful smiley-faced daisies plied to everything from cushions, graphic tees and shorts, skateboards and Louis Vuitton tote-bags to multi-million-dollar artworks offered by the most prestigious galleries in the world. Warhol had his detractors. Jeff Koons certainly has them, and the signatures of 12,000 protestors decrying the staging of Murakami’s work at the Versailles Palace in 2010 suggests he was not immune to similar contempt. Yet what a triumph it proved to be; a mash-up clash of decidedly different cultures, of Japanese anime and manga staged amongst stodgy French classical art, cartoonish figures frolicking under the depictions of glowering military heroes on wall of canvases in ornately carved gilt frames.
MoreMARKET INSIGHTS
- The graph by Art Market Research shows that since 2001, paintings by Murakami have increased at a 17.3% annual rate of return.
- The record price for a Murakami painting at auction was set in 2018 when Dragon in clouds-red mutation (2010) sold for over $8.8 million USD. The highest price for any Murakami at auction is held by the sculpture The Lonesome Cowboy (1998), which sold for over $15 million USD in 2008.
- Murakami’s flowers are among his most recognizable and desirable subject matter. They have appeared in collaborations with Kanye West, Billie Eilish, Louis Vuitton, and many other prominent names in music, media, and fashion.
- The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago’s retrospective exhibition, Takashi Murakami: The Octopus Eats His Own Leg, 2018, is to date their most attended exhibition, signaling pervasive interest in the artist and his most iconic imagery.
Top Paintings Sold at Auction




Comparable Paintings Sold at Auction

- Comparable flower piece from similar year (two years earlier)
- Sold for over $1.7M in 2012
- The value of Murakami paintings has increased since then at a 17.3% annual rate of return.

- Same subject in tondo format, earlier year
- Sold for over $1.6M nearly 15 years ago

- Same subject in tondo format, in less desirable colors
- Sold for $1.2M ten years ago
Murakami in Museum Collections



