A Collaboration with Nobuo Tsuji and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Edited with introduction by Anne Nishimura Morse.
The lineage of the “superflat”: Murakami's vision of the Japanese aesthetic
Takashi Murakami’s irreverent, pop culture–infused art has made him one of the most recognized Japanese artists today. His bright, contemporary boisterousness, however, belies his deep scholarship and engagement with traditional Japanese art. Takashi Murakami: Lineage of Eccentrics presents key examples of Murakami’s work alongside a rich selection of Japanese masterpieces spanning several centuries and arranged here according to concepts laid out by his mentor and foil, leading Japanese art historian Nobuo Tsuji. These include works by Kawanabe Kyosai, Soga Shohaku, Kano Eino, Ito Jakuchu and Hishikawa Moronobu. Beautifully illustrated with Tsuji’s selections from the peerless Japanese art collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, as well as some of the artist’s best-known works of painting and sculpture, the combination of old and new in this groundbreaking volume enriches our understanding of each, and ultimately shows us how contemporary art can be seen as part of a continuum or lineage.
Takashi Murakami (born 1962) is an internationally acclaimed artist and the founder and president of Kaikai Kiki, an art production and management company based in Tokyo with a studio in New York City. He was the first person to earn a PhD in Nihonga—a form of Japanese paintings created using traditional materials and techniques—at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. Over the last two decades, he has presented numerous exhibitions around the world, from Versailles to Qatar. His first major solo exhibition at a US museum was held in 2001 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, titled Takashi Murakami: Made in Japan. Murakami is well known for his corporate branding projects with Louis Vuitton, VANS, shu uemura, Issey Miyake, Lucien Pellat-Finet, Roppongi Hills and ComplexCon, as well as collaborations with musicians such as Kanye West and Pharrell Williams. In 2008, he was selected as one of TIME magazine’s “100 Most Influential People.” More recently, he has been working on film and animation productions, releasing his first live-action film, Jellyfish Eyes, in 2013 and an animated television series, 6HP (Six Hearts Princess), in 2017.
Takashi Murakami's "I open wide my eyes but see no scenery, I fix my gaze upon my heart" Heisei era, 2007 is reproduced from 'Takashi Murakami: Lineage of Eccentrics.'
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This detail of Takashi Murakami's almost 10x20 foot painting, "Lots, Lots of Kaikai and Kiki" (2009), is reproduced from MFA Publications' new Takashi Murakami exhibition catalog, Lineage of Eccentrics, pairing Murakami's super-contemporary pop art with historical Japanese works from the Museum of Fine Arts Boston's collection. Murakami derived the names of the characters in this painting from the expression kaikaikiki, meaning "dangerous yet appealing" when originally used to describe works by sixteenth-century master, Kano Eitoku. "However, when the syllables are transposed they describe a supernatural atmosphere inhabited by ghosts and other phenomena," Anne Nishimura Morse writes, "Thus, Murakami found that the term suggested an image in concert with his own art and adopted it for the name of his company in 2001." continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 8.5 x 10 in. / 184 pgs / 80 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $45.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $60 GBP £35.00 ISBN: 9780878468492 PUBLISHER: MFA Publications, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston AVAILABLE: 4/24/2018 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: In stock TERRITORY: WORLD
Takashi Murakami: Lineage of Eccentrics A Collaboration with Nobuo Tsuji and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Published by MFA Publications, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Edited with introduction by Anne Nishimura Morse.
The lineage of the “superflat”: Murakami's vision of the Japanese aesthetic
Takashi Murakami’s irreverent, pop culture–infused art has made him one of the most recognized Japanese artists today. His bright, contemporary boisterousness, however, belies his deep scholarship and engagement with traditional Japanese art. Takashi Murakami: Lineage of Eccentrics presents key examples of Murakami’s work alongside a rich selection of Japanese masterpieces spanning several centuries and arranged here according to concepts laid out by his mentor and foil, leading Japanese art historian Nobuo Tsuji. These include works by Kawanabe Kyosai, Soga Shohaku, Kano Eino, Ito Jakuchu and Hishikawa Moronobu. Beautifully illustrated with Tsuji’s selections from the peerless Japanese art collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, as well as some of the artist’s best-known works of painting and sculpture, the combination of old and new in this groundbreaking volume enriches our understanding of each, and ultimately shows us how contemporary art can be seen as part of a continuum or lineage.
Takashi Murakami (born 1962) is an internationally acclaimed artist and the founder and president of Kaikai Kiki, an art production and management company based in Tokyo with a studio in New York City. He was the first person to earn a PhD in Nihonga—a form of Japanese paintings created using traditional materials and techniques—at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. Over the last two decades, he has presented numerous exhibitions around the world, from Versailles to Qatar. His first major solo exhibition at a US museum was held in 2001 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, titled Takashi Murakami: Made in Japan. Murakami is well known for his corporate branding projects with Louis Vuitton, VANS, shu uemura, Issey Miyake, Lucien Pellat-Finet, Roppongi Hills and ComplexCon, as well as collaborations with musicians such as Kanye West and Pharrell Williams. In 2008, he was selected as one of TIME magazine’s “100 Most Influential People.” More recently, he has been working on film and animation productions, releasing his first live-action film, Jellyfish Eyes, in 2013 and an animated television series, 6HP (Six Hearts Princess), in 2017.
