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Takashi Murakami, 'Dragon Heads - Gold', Lot 33
20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale, 13 February
Provenance
Blum & Poe, Los Angeles
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2015
Exhibited
Los Angeles, Blum & Poe, Arhat, 13 April – 25 May 2013 (another example exhibited)
Art Projects Ibiza, Takashi Murakami. Arts Projects Ibiza in Partnership with Blum & Poe, 24 June - 26 September 2015 (another example exhibited)
Paris, Galerie Perrotin, Takashi Murakami. Learning The Magic of Painting, 10 September - 23 December 2016 (another example exhibited)
Literature
Brook Mason, 'Ibiza takeover: Blum & Poe stage pop-up exhibition of Takashi Murakami's recent work', Wallpaper, 1 July 2015, online (another example illustrated and mentioned)
Matthew Ponsford, 'Murakami in Ibiza: Can art's rule-breaker get ravers to a gallery?', CNN, 2 July 2015, online (another example illustrated)
'Takashi Murakami', Wall Street International Magazine, 23 July 2015, online (another example illustrated and mentioned)
Catalogue Essay
Both charming and ominous, luxurious and intricate, Dragon Heads – Gold, 2015, is a wonderful example of Takashi Murakami’s dynamic sculptural practice. Comprised of an accumulation of skulls topped one above the other and adorned in gold leaf, the work commands the attention of the viewer, eliciting an astonishing perceptive experience upon first encounter. As each skull becomes increasingly difficult to discern from the next, the viewer’s reflection gets lost within the depths of the sculpture, rippling from one area of the mirrored surface to another, in warped or diminished dimensions.

Pairing Japanese tradition with a contemporary sheen, Murakami develops a symbiotic visual lexicon that dissolves the distinctions between high art and popular culture, contemporary production and ancient image-making. In doing so, the artist’s practice engages in an oscillatory conversation with the industries of fine art and fashion, producing paintings and sculptures which are as much works of art as they are coveted commercial icons. Whilst Pop artists Claes Oldenburg and Andy Warhol produced a satirical critique of capitalism and the increasingly consumerist culture of the art world, Murakami has flattened these boundaries, creating an art defined by bountiful excess.

Constituting one of several recurring character motifs from Murakami’s iconography, the skull has been a protagonist in the artist’s output for the past twenty years. The roundness with which the skulls are crafted in the present work confers the inert creatures an endearing charm, almost able to masquerade their symbolism as icons of death. Yet, as often in the traditions of kawaii and manga from which Murakami takes inspiration, there are deeper connotations that lurk beneath their innocent appearance. Elucidating this paradox, the artist noted, ‘Desire and death are always connected in some way, I believe, just as they are both an inextricable part of life. A thrill without danger is not a thrill’ (Takashi Murakami, quoted in Matthew Ponsford, 'Murakami in Ibiza: Can art's rule-breaker get ravers to a gallery?', CNN, 2 July 2015, online). In its juxtaposition of the themes of death and desire, danger and innocence, the dichotomy at the heart of Dragon Heads – Gold evokes Damien Hirst’s For the Love of God, which similarly employs the image of the skull, whilst casting it as tangibly sublime in its luxurious three-dimensional form. Echoing Murakami’s use of a precious material, Hirst’s sculpture presents the platinum cast of an 18th century skull encrusted with 8,601 diamonds.

Notably, Murakami departs from his signature Superflat style in Dragon Heads – Gold, veering instead towards the three-dimensional physicality of sculpture. Hung from the wall, the work eludes the flatness of Japanese graphic art and animation, and offers by contrast a commanding and charismatic presence. Almost surreal in form, Dragon Heads – Gold blurs the boundaries between that which is real and imagined, animate and inanimate, plunging the viewer into the realm of the fantastical. The visual experience prescribed by the work negates that of the sculpture of antiquity through to early modernity, which often demands the intricate inspection and careful contemplation of its audiences. Instead, it exists within a contemporary lineage that includes Jeff Koons’ glossy balloon animals, which equally allow an immediately gratifying experience to even the most fleeting of viewers. Murakami’s art, like Koons’, is curated for a contemporary audience – an audience whose interest is often heavily informed by the rapid proliferation of visual information made available by ever-developing technologies.

Transcending nationality, culture and time, Dragon Heads - Gold encapsulates Murakami’s development of an idiosyncratic visual lexicon constituted through references to the visual iconography of pop culture and mass media. In this sense, it is emblematic of the artist’s vision and intention, which has offered a new horizon for art in the 21st century.
Artist Biography
Takashi Murakami
Japanese • 1962
Takashi Murakami is best known for his contemporary combination of fine art and pop culture. He uses recognizable iconography like Mickey Mouse and cartoonish flowers and infuses it with Japanese culture. The result is a boldly colorful body of work that takes the shape of paintings, sculptures and animations.
In the 1990s, Murakami founded the Superflat movement in an attempt to expose the "shallow emptiness of Japanese consumer culture." The artist plays on the familiar aesthetic of mangas, Japanese-language comics, to render works that appear democratic and accessible, all the while denouncing the universality and unspecificity of consumer goods. True to form, Murakami has done collaborations with numerous brands and celebrities including Kanye West, Louis Vuitton, Pharrell Williams and Google.
View More Works

33

Takashi Murakami

Dragon Heads - Gold

gold leaf on carbon fibre
135 x 88 x 84.5 cm (53 1/8 x 34 5/8 x 33 1/4 in.)
Executed in 2015, this work is number 1 from an edition of 3 plus 2 artist's proofs.

Estimate
£400,000 - 600,000 ‡

Sold for £495,000

Contact Specialist

Olivia Thornton
Head of 20th Century & Contemporary Art, Europe
+44 20 7318 4099
OThornton@phillips.com

Rosanna Widén
Senior Specialist, Head of Evening Sale
+44 20 7318 4060
rwiden@phillips.com

20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale

London Auction 13 February 2020

1
Amoako Boafo
The Lemon Bathing Suit
Estimate £30,000 - 50,000 ‡
Sold for £675,000
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2
Julie Curtiss
Four Buns
Estimate £80,000 - 120,000 ‡♠
Sold for £137,500
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3
Tschabalala Self
Princess
Estimate £150,000 - 250,000
Sold for £435,000
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4
Eddie Martinez
Neanderthal Jeans
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000
Sold for £375,000
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5
Katharina Grosse
Untitled
Estimate £80,000 - 120,000 ‡♠
Sold for £137,500
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6
Yayoi Kusama
INFINITY-NETS (KSUZL)
Estimate £600,000 - 800,000 ‡
Sold for £525,000
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7
El Anatsui
Affirmation
Estimate £700,000 - 900,000 ‡
Sold for £915,000
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8
Jia Aili
The Young
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000 ‡
Sold for £855,000
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9
Ed Ruscha
God Knows Where
Estimate £2,500,000 - 3,500,000 ‡
Sold for £3,375,000
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10
Keith Haring
Untitled
Estimate £3,000,000 - 4,000,000
Sold for £3,206,000
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11
A.R. Penck
AUFSTAND DER SPIELER
Estimate £150,000 - 200,000 ♠
Sold for £200,000
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12
Günther Förg
Untitled
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000 ‡♠
Sold for £411,000
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13
This lot is no longer available.
14
Anish Kapoor
Blade
Estimate £120,000 - 180,000 ‡♠
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15
Michael Craig-Martin
Full
Estimate £80,000 - 120,000 ♠
Sold for £162,500
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16
Damien Hirst
Antipyrylazo III
Estimate £900,000 - 1,200,000 ♠
Sold for £1,275,000
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17
Damien Hirst
Bodies
Estimate £1,200,000 - 1,800,000 ♠
Sold for £1,368,600
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18
Gilbert & George
CITY FAIRIES
Estimate £120,000 - 180,000 ♠
Sold for £156,250
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19
Damien Hirst
Summer Breeze
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000 ♠
Sold for £435,000
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20
Damien Hirst
Beautiful tropical, jungle painting (with pink snot)
Estimate £270,000 - 350,000 ♠
Sold for £350,000
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21
Gary Hume
Magnolia Door One
Estimate £20,000 - 30,000 ♠
Sold for £40,000
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22
Peter Doig
Camp Forestia
Estimate £700,000 - 1,000,000 ♠
Sold for £800,000
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23
Cecily Brown
Girl Eating Turtle Dove
Estimate £550,000 - 750,000 ‡♠
Sold for £615,000
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24
Sean Scully
Robe Green Gold
Estimate £700,000 - 1,000,000 ‡♠
Sold for £987,000
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25
This lot is no longer available.
26
Alex Katz
Gray Bow
Estimate £500,000 - 700,000
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27
Tom Wesselmann
Reverse Drawing: Bedroom Blonde with Irises
Estimate £320,000 - 420,000 ‡
Sold for £375,000
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28
Michaël Borremans
Untitled
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000 ♠
Sold for £350,000
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29
Adrian Ghenie
Pie Fight Study 4
Estimate £350,000 - 450,000 ♠
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30
Marlene Dumas
Chained to the Bed for 15 Years
Estimate £300,000 - 400,000 ‡♠
Sold for £325,000
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31
Takashi Murakami
Cosmic Power
Estimate £300,000 - 400,000 ‡
Sold for £375,000
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32
KAWS
FAR AWAY FRIENDS
Estimate £800,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for £900,000
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33
Takashi Murakami
Dragon Heads - Gold
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000 ‡
Sold for £495,000
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34
This lot is no longer available.
35
Anish Kapoor
Sky Mirror
Estimate £800,000 - 1,200,000 ‡♠
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36
Raoul De Keyser
Hellepoort
Estimate £100,000 - 150,000 ♠
Sold for £131,250
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37
Marcel Broodthaers
Moules
Estimate £150,000 - 250,000 ♠
Sold for £168,750
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38
Carol Rama
Pornografia due
Estimate £150,000 - 200,000 ♠
Sold for £150,000
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39
This lot is no longer available.
40
Roman Opałka
OPAŁKA 1965/1 – ∞ DETAIL 4514079 – 4536373
Estimate £250,000 - 300,000 ♠
Sold for £471,000
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41
KAWS
ON TIME
Estimate £300,000 - 400,000
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20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale

London Auction 13 February 2020

Create your first list.

Video

Provenance

Exhibited

Literature

Catalogue Essay

Artist Biography

Takashi Murakami

33

Takashi Murakami

Dragon Heads - Gold

20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale

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