Perrotin Los Angeles is honored to present Takashi Murakami’s new solo exhibition, Revisiting Ukiyo-e: Tracing Superflat to the Origins of Japonisme. Inspired by a visit to Monet’s Giverny, Takashi Murakami (b. 1962) explores the relationship between Ukiyo-e and Impressionism in a set of 24 new paintings at Perrotin, Los Angeles. The latest work advances his theory of how ukiyo-e (floating world-e prints) transformed the global art landscape in the late 1800s. In recent years, Murakami has reflected on how landscape prints from Japan prompted the Impressionists to adopt more subjective and abstract methods of composition and painting. Now the artist’s early sculptures Heropon and my lonely cowboy Challenges the world to think about sexual themes in Japanese art and considers the global impact of the ukiyo-e genre (bijin-e).
Ukiyo-e bijin paintings primarily depict women, particularly the prostitutes, geishas, and iconic teahouse attendants of Edo (modern-day Tokyo). These women were often celebrities in their own right, or popular figures of entertainment, and they were depicted as charming figures, either alone or gathered like flowers in a greenhouse in the play areas or teahouses where they entertained. From everyday casual actions to admiring seasonal flowers or moonlight; or sometimes traveling on a mission. Captivated by their novel compositions, exotic costumes, and erotic elements, Monet and other Impressionist painters drew inspiration for new depictions of modern life in France.
The Perrotin exhibition provides an in-depth introduction to Edo fashion and taste with four commemorative paintings based on the beauty paintings of Kitagawa Utamaro and Torii Kiyonaga. “Flowers of Yoshiwara” by Kitagawa Utamaro Dog and cat intoxicated with cherry blossoms – SUPERFLAT and “Fukagawa Snow” by Kitagawa Utamaro A samurai and many cats in Edo during the Little Ice Age – SUPERFLAT Two of Utamaro’s most famous works are reproduced, large paintings depicting women gathering at teahouses in spring and winter. (Both paintings were in Paris in the late 1800s, collected by Siegfried Bing, an influential figure in Japonisme; Monet may have had the opportunity to see them in person.) Murakami’s version is impressive at two meters by four meters, conveying the grand scale of the original. Two triptychs of beautiful woodblock prints by Utamaro and Kiyonaga hang beside them.
The paintings illustrate the devices Utamaro and Kiyonaga used to express sensuality, such as a woman’s slender white nape, bare feet, or languid postures. Murakami observed that even women’s hairlines were portrayed in a sexy way. The Impressionists absorbed these elements as well as other novel features: sloping ground planes, shallow spaces, silhouetted figures, flat areas of bright color defined by curved outlines. Murakami experienced these characteristics firsthand in the process of copying the originals and recognized the meticulousness required in the pursuit of exquisite effects. He interpreted them in his signature style, consisting of layer upon layer of screen-printed acrylic paint, applied using a special blade application method and finished with a glossy finish.
The second series explores the route from the bijinga to Monet’s 1875 portrait of his first wife Camille, known as woman holding parasol ——Madame Monet and her son. Here, Murakami pairs a copy of a Monet portrait with enlarged versions of twelve ukiyo-e prints by Kikikawa Eizan and his teacher Utamaro. Through these examples, Murakami shapes the narrative of Monet’s encounter with the beautiful paintings. They suggest elements that Monet absorbed in his print studies: statuesque three-quarter figures; sensual silhouettes; parasols seen from below; clouds of cherry blossoms; windswept skirts. Another option, Utamaro’s Yamama and Kintarois an example of the bijinga subgenre, in which women appear alongside young children. in his copy woman holding parasolMurakami’s intricate scraper patterns recall Monet’s expressive brushstrokes and speckled surfaces.
The third section extends the connection between ukiyo-e and Monet to contemporary Japanese kawaii culture. Paintings by Camille DoncieuxDoor and Tracks and blooms on the mountain Design that originated as a collectible trading card 108 flower modification The series is a product line launched in 2024 by Kaikai Kiki, Ltd., a general trading company led by Takashi Murakami. Trading card design inspired by this The wind blowsis Hayao Miyazaki’s popular manga and animated film. Hayao Miyazaki used an easel to paint the character of Naoko outdoors, which was inspired by the works of Monet. woman holding parasol. In Murakami’s version, the demure heroine of Hayao Miyazaki’s classic appears sexy with her long bare legs, with Monet’s impressionistic blooms replaced by Murakami’s signature blooms of happiness. supporting works, Flowers on the mountainreplacing Camille’s son (painted by Monet on the hillside) with Haruki Murakami’s flower-shaped figure Ohana. Tracks above the clouds hint at the theme song The wind blows and references to young people dying young (as do Camille and Nahoko).
Five further paintings provide a coda to the exhibition in the form of Murakami Haruka precedents: three exquisite floral prints by ukiyo-e artists Katsushika Hokusai and Hiroshige, alongside four hollyhock paintings based on the works of Edo period painter Ogata Korin and Hayashi-pai member Kenzan.
As Murakami points out, plagiarism has a long history in Japan. This is a core practice in the training of most painting studio students. By revisiting important works from the past, he hopes to learn from his predecessors and, in the process, clarify for himself the chain of relationships from ukiyo-e to modern abstraction. The creative examination and interpretation of Edo period artworks was an important project in his later years, as can be seen in a series of recent exhibitions at the Asian Art Museum, Brooklyn Museum, Kyocera Museum (Kyoto), and the Cleveland Museum of Art.
