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.

In this book the leading authority on Japanese art history sheds light on how Japan has nurtured distinctive aesthetics, prominent artists, and movements that have achieved global influence and popularity. The History of Art in Japan discusses works ranging from earthenware figurines in 13,000 BCE to manga, anime, and modern subcultures.

From 1859 to 1880, Joshua Abraham Norton thought he was Emperor of the United States. Ann Atkin keeps 7,500 garden gnomes in her backyard. Brooklyn artist Peter McGough dresses and acts as if it were 1895. These are just a few of the eccentrics discussed by Dr. Weeks, the world's foremost expert on the subject.

In 2010 Japanese artist Takashi Murakami filled 15 rooms at the Palace of Versailles with his first major retrospective in France. Across 125 colour plates, this exhibition publication documents the show's 22 manga-inspired works, which included seven new sculptures never before exhibited. The book also includes production sketches, maquettes, models, and production photos of works in construction in Murakami's studio.

Japan's Meiji era was a time of dramatic cultural change. Industry, the military, transportation, fashion, architecture, the arts - all aspects of Meiji society embraced modernisation. Kamisaka Sekka (1866-1942) flourished during this vibrant period. Deeply rooted in tradition - he led the revival of Rinpa, a style created in the 17th century - Sekka was a progenitor of modern design in Japan, creating imaginative, innovative imagery. He cooperated with other artisans to apply his designs to ceramics, lacquerware, and textiles, and so became an influential transitional figure. In addition to his work as a designer, Sekka produced several suites of prints, published as multivolume books. When he transformed his paintings into woodcuts for reproduction, he revised his style to suit the medium. The resulting graphics are imbued with his signature elegant and delicate touch and reflect the artist's melding of Western and Japanese design influences. The Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture in Hanford, California, holds a magnificent collection of Kamisaka Sekka's works. Chosen for this book are the complete sets of prints from three of his best-known publications: All Kinds of Things (Chigusa), All Kinds of Butterflies (Cho- senshu) and Things from Many Worlds (Momoyogusa). More than 160 woodblock prints are collected here, with an introductory essay authored by Andreas Marks, Director and Chief Curator at the Clark Center.

The first major U.S. monograph in ten years on Murakami is the definitive survey of the paintings of one of today’s most influential artists. Takashi Murakami (b. 1962), one of contemporary art’s most widely recognized exponents, receives a long-awaited critical consideration in this important volume. Accompanying the first retrospective exhibition devoted solely to Murakami’s paintings, this book traces Murakami’s career from his earliest training to his current studio practice. Where other books address the commercial aspects of Murakami’s work, this is the first serious survey of his work as a painter. Through essays and illustrations— many previously unpublished—it explores the artist’s relationship to the tradition of Japanese painting and his facility in straddling high and low, ancient and modern, Eastern and Western, commercial and high art. New texts address Murakami’s output in the context of postwar Japan, situating the artist in relation to folklore, traditional Japanese painting, the Tokyo art scene in the 1980s and 1990s, and the threat of nuclear annihilation. This richly illustrated volume also includes a detailed biography and exhibition history. Takashi Murakami is a true essential for collectors and fans alike.