Takashi Murakami

Private Collection, New York

Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Pop Art: Now and Then, February - August 2008 (another example exhibited)
Doha, Qatar Museums Authority, Murakami - Ego, February - June 2012, p. 236, illustrated in color (another example exhibited)

This work is in very good and sound condition overall. There are several minor surface accretions on the figure's face. There is evidence of wear to the areas where the sculpture's connection points, on the ends of both legs and the neck, which is not visible when installed.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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Often compared to American pop art icon Andy Warhol, Takashi Murakami is celebrated for his arresting and highly original works of art characterized by cartoon-like paintings and quasi-minimalist sculptures as well as consumer products ranging from t-shirts to watches. Bridging high and low culture, Murakami’s art is immediately recognizable from the plethora of kawaii figures from Japanese popular culture, where inspiration and references are drawn from mass-produced toys, television, film, pop music, Disney, computer games, manga and anime. Throughout his oeuvre, several characters reappear time and again, with notable examples including Kaikai and Kiki, Mr. Oval, Mr. Cloud, Machikado-kun and Kitagawa-kun, who appears in sculptural form in the present work. Kitagawa is the name of a boy while kun is an endearing suffix in Japanese meaning ‘little’ or ‘kid’. Kitagawa-kun is often considered the character that is the most human of Murakami’s creations, and the plump, pleasant, jovial boyish features of the present work is no doubt a testament to such reputation.

While Murakami’s imageries present a world that seems highly amusing and accessible, his art comes from a highly calculated, strategized and serious method of approach and execution and addresses darker and more serious themes of art and capitalism in the East and West. Born in Tokyo in 1963, Murakami was raised and educated in Japan where he was classically trained, having received a Ph.D. in the traditional nihon-ga style of historic Japanese painting. Besides manga culture and Japanese art, the artist was also acutely aware of American pop culture–knowledge of which was available to him through his father whilst working at a naval base in the United States. From such amalgam of influences, Murakami’s art becomes a medium in which relationships between high art and popular culture, East and West, contemporary art and traditional Japanese art as well as art and capitalism are investigated. Like Warhol and Jeff Koons, Murakami works with a large team of well-trained assistants in an environment the artist often compares to a factory. Conscious of the evolving nature of fine art as well as tendencies of pop culture in both America and Japan, Murakami deftly crafted a system of production in which Japanese anime figures and characters are created on a vast array of mediums, all executed with a mechanical precision not unlike popular consumer products that are mass produced from machines. Despite the removal of the artist’s hand, the bright, poppy, playful characters such as Kitagawa-kun have become iconic of Murakami’s oeuvre, attracting not only the attention of public institutions as well as collectors in the world of fine art but also a larger audience of dedicated cult followers and fans throughout Japan. 

Jeff Koons
Pink Panther, 1988
porcelain
41 by 20 1/2  by 19 in.
104.1 by 52.1 by 48.3 cm.
© Jeff Koons