The Murakami 727 silkscreen vs the 727 offset, what’s the difference??

Many inquisitive minds want to know, “what is the difference between the 727 silkscreen and offset prints?” A brief discussion of the various 727s appears here. This article teases out the distinctions between the 2003 727 offset and the 2016 727 silkscreen. Impressions When comparing the two prints, the contrasts in size and brightness immediately …

Welcome to the Murakami Print Archive

For over a month a little link for the Murakami Takashi Print Archive remained hidden at the bottom of the Sugimoto68 homepage. Desperate to finish sooner, I constantly felt like Ambassador de Sadesky in Kubrick’s prescient masterpiece, Dr. Strangelove. Dr. Strangelove confronts Sadesky about withholding the critical information necessary to make Russia’s nuclear deterrent work: …

It’s the writing, not the copyright, right? Dating your Murakami

A Murakami print problem that collectors do not normally perceive as a problem is the identification of the production date of a particular print. Naturally, the date of the print appears right on the print itself, right? Wrong. Major auction houses and all types of Murakami sellers often identify the incorrect production date for Murakami …

Takashi Murakami’s eponymous signature

At some point a Murakami collector will start comparing prints and suddenly realize something strange––the signatures don’t match! Murakami’s signature evolves from a legible printed scrawl to the now ubiquitous opaque loops. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but what about Murakami’s John Hancock? With the (de)evolution of his signature you …