Summary
- Takashi Murakami’s Hark Back to Ukiyo-e exhibition opens at Perrotin Los Angeles on February 14, 2026
- Featuring 24 new works, the show highlights large-scale reinterpretations of Utamaro and Kiyonaga’s bijinga, alongside Monet-inspired pieces
Perrotin Los Angeles is set to present Takashi Murakami’s latest solo exhibition, Hark Back to Ukiyo-e: Tracing Superflat to Japonisme’s Genesis on February 14, 2026.
Featuring 24 new paintings, the exhibition explores the historical dialogue between Japanese ukiyo-e prints and European Impressionism, particularly the influence of bijinga – pictures of beautiful women – on artists such as Monet. Inspired by a recent visit to Monet’s Giverny, Murakami advances his Superflat theory by tracing how Edo-period compositions, costumes, and sensual gestures reshaped Western approaches to modern life and abstraction.
Among the highlights are monumental reinterpretations of Kitagawa Utamaro and Torii Kiyonaga’s bijinga works, including “Flowers of Yoshiwara” and “Snow in Fukagawa.” Murakami’s large-scale versions, measuring two by four meters, echo the grandeur of the originals once seen in Paris during the height of Japonisme. His layered silkscreened acrylic technique, applied with a squeegee and finished with a glossy surface, reimagines the delicate effects of Edo-period prints while emphasizing sensual details such as the nape of a woman’s neck or the curve of her hairline.
A second series pairs Monet’s “Woman with a Parasol – Madame Monet and Her Son” with enlarged ukiyo-e prints by Utamaro and Kikukawa Eizan, illustrating how motifs like parasols, windswept skirts, and cherry blossoms migrated from Japanese prints into Impressionist canvases.
Murakami also extends this lineage into contemporary kawaii culture, linking ukiyo-e and Impressionism to his own iconic motifs. Works such as “Camille-Chang” and “Contrail and Ohana-Chang” originated from his 108 Flowers Revised trading card series, blending references to Hayao Miyazaki’s The Wind Rises with Murakami’s signature happy flowers. These playful reinterpretations replace Monet’s figures with anime-inspired heroines and flower-shaped characters, underscoring the continuity of cultural borrowing across centuries.
Takashi Murakami’s Hark Back to Ukiyo-e: Tracing Superflat to Japonisme’s Genesis exhibition opens at Perrotin Los Angeles on February 14 and will remain on view through to March 14, 2026.
Perrotin Los Angeles
5036 W Pico Blvd,
Los Angeles, CA 90019
USA
