Beschreibung:

Takashi Murakami (Japanese, born 1962), 村上隆 A Little Flower Painting: Yellow, White, and Purple Flowers 2017 signed and dated 2017 on the reverse acrylic and gold leaf on canvas 41.7 x 33.5 cm (16 7/16 x 13 3/16 in) Fußnoten Provenance Aoi Gallery, Osaka Private Collection, Japan Acquired directly from the above by the present owner Exhibited Osaka, Aoi Gallery, Kaikai KiKi Selection, 2017 村上隆 《A Little Flower Painting: Yellow, White, and Purple Flowers》 壓克力 金箔 畫布 2017年作 背面簽名: TAKASHI 2017 來源 日本大阪青井畫廊 日本私人收藏 現藏家直接購自上述收藏 展覽 「Kaikai KiKi Selection」, 日本大阪青井畫廊, 2017年 Representing Takashi Murakami's most recognizable and emblematic motif, the present work comprises exuberant smiling flowers overlapping one another. In a spontaneous fashion, the petals twist and spiral on the canvas, multiplying yet compressed and confined in one space. The flower motif has always been a crucial element to Murakami's oeuvre, one that he started exploring when he was training in the school of nihonga (traditional Japanese painting) at the Tokyo University of the Arts. Murakami's adoration for flowers oscillated throughout his career as he once stated "at the beginning, to be frank, I didn't like flowers, but as I continued teaching in the school, my feelings changed: their smell, their shape – it all made me feel almost physically sick, and at the same time I found them very 'cute.' Each one seemed to have its own feelings, its own personality. My dominant feeling was one of unease, but I liked that sensation. And these days, now that I draw flowers rather frequently, that sensation has come back very vividly." (Takashi Murakami in: Takashi Murakami Kaikai Kiki, Paris and London 2002, p. 84) Tickling our eyes and imagination, the flowers are at first glance cute and optimistic, yet they are also a visual simulation and commentary on contemporary Japanese popular culture of comics, anime, manga, and the culture of kawaii (cute). Bridging his training in nihonga with contemporary culture, Murakami coined the term Superflat in 2001, which is characterized as a postmodern art movement emphasizing the radical aesthetic of two-dimensional flatness. The theory draws from the compression of the history of Japanese "flat" art aesthetics, as well as the upheaval and uncertainty Japan was experiencing post World War II. The idea of Superflat, in Murakami's works, is more of a conceptual rather than a formal one. Although the present lot radiates an overall sense of flatness, it is in fact multi-dimensional upon closer inspection. Smiling flowers of differing colours and sizes overlap against a dazzling gold leaf plated background, which is reminiscent of aesthetics of nihonga, where artists would use finely beaten materials such as gold and silver to create metallic leafs as a background supported on silk. The reflective nature of gold is juxtaposed against matte pastel petals of blue, purple, yellow, and green, transforming what is initially a flat composition into an optical illusion of heightened dimensionality. Murakami's longing vision to define contemporary Japanese art form has secured him as one of the most influential and thought-provoking artists of post-war Asia. His artistic practice is multifaceted, incorporating art history and contemporary art, Eastern and Western aesthetics, and ultimately blurring the lines between high culture and mass production. Having been exhibited in Osaka in 2017, the present lot comes directly from a private collection in Japan. Flawlessly plated in gold leaf, A Little Flower Painting: Yellow, White, and Purple Flowers presents a rare opportunity to acquire one of the artist's most sought-after and iconic compositions. 本拍品呈現村上隆最著名且具代表性的圖像主題，由生氣盎然、相互交疊的歡笑花朵交織而成。出自一種自發的動態，這些花瓣在畫布上旋轉環繞，不斷增生同時也彼此壓縮，圈限在一個空間裡。花朵圖形一向是村上隆藝術裡的重要元素，從他在東京藝術大學研習傳統日本畫 （nihonga）時就開始探索。回顧村上隆的創作生涯，他對花的愛慕是游移不定的，他曾表示：「老實說，一開始我並不喜歡花，但隨著我持續教學，我的感覺改變了：它們的香氣、它們的形狀，都讓我感到彷彿生病般的不適，而同時我又覺得它們非常『可愛』。每一朵花似乎有它自己的感覺、它自己的性格。花帶給我的主要感覺是不安，但我喜歡那樣的感受。現在，我經常畫花，而再度很鮮明地體會那樣的