Guy Hepner Gallery

Takashi Murakami An Homage To Yves Klein, Multicolour A For Sale

Takashi Murakami
Takashi Murakami - An Homage To Yves Klein, Multicolour A, 2012, Lithograph

An Homage To Yves Klein, Multicolour A, 2012

Lithograph

31 1/8 x 20 7/8 in 79 x 53 cm

Edition

Edition of 300

About this work

Takashi Murakami's Homage series is a profound exploration of cultural reverence and artistic dialogue, manifesting through a variety of screen prints and lithograph prints that pay tribute to iconic figures and moments in art history, such as Francis Bacon and Yves Klein. This collection underscores Murakami’s ability to navigate and merge the realms of high art with popular culture, further solidifying his status as a pivotal figure in contemporary art.Central to many of the prints in this collection is Murakami's iconic motif of smiling flowers. These flowers, characterized by centers resembling smiley face emojis, are not only visually captivating but also imbued with deep emotional and aesthetic significance. In pieces like An Homage To Yves Klein, Multicolor D, the canvas bursts with a spectrum of multi-colored flowers, each carrying a distinct personality and emotional expression as suggested by Murakami. He believes that each flower has its own feelings and individuality, a notion reflected in their unique color combinations. This meticulous attention to detail and color highlights Murakami's dedication to both aesthetic appeal and emotional depth, capturing the 'kawaii' essence of Japanese pop culture that celebrates cuteness and endearing characteristics.In contrast, other prints such as Homage To Francis Bacon depart from the floral motif and instead delve into the darker, more intense themes reminiscent of Bacon's work. Although devoid of the smiling flowers, these prints maintain a vibrant, psychedelic color palette and feature some of Murakami's other well-known characters like Mr. Pointy and Mr. DOB. These characters, along with Kaikai and Kiki—the yin and yang of Murakami's cartoon universe—illustrate the versatility of his artistic repertoire. Kaikai, with its big smile and white rabbit-like ears, and Kiki, with its more sinister three eyes and fangs, exemplify the dynamic and contrasting personas that populate Murakami's works.The Homage series is not just a tribute to the giants of the art world but also a canvas where Murakami’s influences from anime and manga are vividly displayed. The use of bright, bold colors and the presence of his signature characters infuse the series with a distinct energy that bridges the gap between 'high' and 'low' culture. By doing so, Murakami challenges traditional art hierarchies and creates a space where cultural icons, historical references, and contemporary expressions coalesce.Through this series, Murakami continues to push the boundaries of contemporary art, blending his deep respect for artistic pioneers with his innovative visual language. Each print not only honors an artist or a moment but also serves as a reflection of Murakami's own artistic journey and his continuous dialogue with the art world.

Price on Application

Edition & Provenance

Year
2012
Medium
Lithograph
Edition
Edition of 300

More from this series

More series by Takashi Murakami

About the Homage Series

Takashi Murakami Homage Prints For Sale

Takashi Murakami's Homage series represents a pivotal moment in the acclaimed Japanese artist's career, where he engages directly with the legacy of color field painting and contemporary visual culture. Created during a period of artistic synthesis, these works pay respectful tribute to key influences, from Yves Klein's groundbreaking monochromatic explorations to references spanning anime, design, and cultural icons.

The series demonstrates Murakami's signature technical mastery, blending traditional Japanese aesthetics with contemporary art historical discourse. Each work—from An Homage To Monopink B to An Homage To Director Hideaki—showcases his distinctive approach to color, form, and conceptual layering. These pieces have become increasingly sought-after by collectors recognizing their importance within Murakami's oeuvre and the broader dialogue between Eastern and Western modernism.

The Homage series remains significant in the secondary market, appealing to seasoned collectors and institutions alike. These works exemplify why Murakami's practice continues to command critical attention and sustained market interest.

Enquire for current availability and provenance details.

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An Homage To Yves Klein, Multicolour A

About Takashi Murakami

Takashi Murakami Prints For Sale

Takashi Murakami prints for sale at Guy Hepner Gallery in New York span the full range of his edition output: Superflat flower prints, skull series, Mr. DOB works, Kaikai Kiki editions, and collaborative works that have made Murakami one of the most actively traded artists in the contemporary print market. For collectors seeking Takashi Murakami art for sale — whether an iconic flower screenprint, a limited-edition sculpture multiple, or a major canvas — Guy Hepner at 177 Tenth Avenue, New York offers expert guidance, full provenance documentation, and access to authenticated works across all his major series.

Takashi Murakami (b. 1962, Tokyo) is the defining figure of contemporary Japanese art on the international stage — an artist, theorist, entrepreneur, and studio director whose Superflat theory and the enormously productive practice it generated have permanently altered the conversation about the relationship between high art and popular culture, between Western postwar painting and East Asian visual tradition, and between the studio and the factory. Murakami received his BA, MA, and PhD from the Tokyo University of the Arts in Nihonga — traditional Japanese painting — a rigorous formation that gives his apparently anarchic pop sensibility its underlying structural discipline.

The Superflat manifesto, which Murakami developed and articulated in the early 2000s, proposed that the flattened pictorial space of traditional Japanese painting and the surface-oriented aesthetics of anime and manga were not merely parallel phenomena but expressions of the same deep cultural logic — a logic that Western art history had misread as naivety but which Murakami identified as a sophisticated and distinctive mode of representation.

Murakami's Visual Universe: Flowers, Skulls, and Mr. DOB

Through his practice, Murakami has built a visual universe populated by recurring characters and motifs:

  • Smiling Flowers — deceptively cheerful multi-eyed blossoms that bloom across canvases, prints, and merchandise of enormous scale and colour variety. The flowers are Murakami's most recognisable and actively traded motif in the edition market.
  • Mr. DOB — Murakami's alter ego and running commentary on consumerism; a hybrid figure drawing on anime, cartoon, and pop art traditions
  • Skulls — rendered in the manner of traditional Japanese vanitas imagery, these works bridge his engagement with the history of Japanese craft and his fascination with mortality and popular culture
  • Kaikai and Kiki — his studio mascots, which appear across prints, sculptures, and merchandise as embodiments of the Kaikai Kiki production ethos
  • Flower Ball — large-scale sphere compositions made of repeating flower motifs; among his most sought-after sculptural and print works

Takashi Murakami: Kaikai Kiki Studio and Production

Murakami's Kaikai Kiki studio and production company — employing dozens of assistants in an explicit homage to both the Japanese craft workshop and Warhol's Factory — produces paintings, sculptures, editions, merchandise, and cultural events with equal seriousness and commercial intent. This model, in which studio production, cultural criticism, and commercial output are deliberately merged, is central to understanding Murakami's practice and the edition market that surrounds it.

Murakami: Major Collaborations and Cultural Reach

Murakami's major collaborations have extended his work into fashion, music, and popular culture on a global scale. His partnership with Louis Vuitton produced some of the most successful fashion-art collaborations of the 2000s. His album artwork for Kanye West's Graduation brought his visual language to audiences that had no prior engagement with contemporary art. His collaborations with Supreme and other streetwear brands have ensured that his work circulates across youth culture as readily as it does in museum collections.

These collaborations have expanded the collector base for his fine art editions significantly: many collectors who first encountered Murakami through fashion or music have subsequently acquired prints and multiples, creating sustained demand across a wider demographic than most contemporary artists command.

Takashi Murakami: Market and Auction Results

Murakami's auction record stands at $15,200,000 for My Lonesome Cowboy (1998) at Sotheby's New York in 2008, and major paintings continue to command seven-figure results. His edition prints and multiples — flower series, skulls, Mr. DOB, Kaikai Kiki — are among the most actively traded in the contemporary edition market globally. Print prices range from $3,000–$5,000 for smaller open editions through $50,000–$200,000+ for rare signed limited editions and artist proofs in high demand colourways.

Murakami's work is held in permanent collections at MoMA, MOCA Los Angeles, the Asian Art Museum San Francisco, Tate Modern, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, the Centre Pompidou, the Rubell Museum, and the Mori Art Museum Tokyo.

What to Look For When Buying Takashi Murakami Prints

Edition size: Murakami produces both open-edition merchandise-style prints and tightly limited fine art editions. The latter — often numbered to 50 or fewer, with hand signature and certificate of authenticity from Kaikai Kiki — carry the strongest value and market liquidity.

Motif and colourway: Flower works in rare colourways, skull editions, and Mr. DOB prints consistently outperform peripheral motifs. Rainbow colourways and gold/metallic editions typically carry premium over standard colourways.

Authentication: All fine art editions should come with Kaikai Kiki certificates of authenticity and, for works sold through Perrotin or other authorised galleries, original gallery documentation.

Condition: Murakami's prints are typically produced on archival substrates, but condition remains important — works stored and framed correctly hold value most reliably.

Buy Takashi Murakami Art For Sale at Guy Hepner Gallery, New York

Guy Hepner offers a curated selection of Takashi Murakami prints for sale and edition multiples across all his major series from our gallery at 177 Tenth Avenue, New York. We bring expert knowledge of the Murakami edition market and offer free, confidential valuations for collectors looking to sell or appraise their holdings. Whether you are seeking an iconic flower print, a skull series multiple, or a rare signed limited edition, Guy Hepner provides the market expertise, authentication assurance, and collector access to support every acquisition.

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