The Flower Ball series by Takashi Murakami is a series of circular prints filled with an intense splattering of flowers in sunny colours. Each flower is unique and given a smiley face, a nod to Japanese 'otaku' culture. As per the title, Murakami creates the illusion of 3-dimensionality.
The Flower Ball series by Takashi Murakami features both signed and unsigned editions, which diverge significantly in value. Signed examples consistently command premiums, with hammer prices reaching up to £4546. Across the series, 51 total auction sales have been recorded, with an average annual growth rate of 15.29%. For collectors, edition type plays a pivotal role in value potential within this series.
| Artwork | Auction Date | Auction House | Return to Seller | Hammer Price | Buyer Paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Flower Ball: Red | 17 Sept 2024 | Christie's London | £2,763 | £3,250 | £4,400 |
![]() Flower Ball: Sequoia Sempervirens Takashi Murakami Signed Print | 4 Sept 2024 | Los Angeles Modern Auctions | £850 | £1,000 | £1,350 |
Flower Ball: Lots Of Colours | 1 Dec 2023 | Bonhams Online | £553 | £650 | £800 |
![]() Flower Ball: Letter to Picasso Takashi Murakami Signed Print | 11 Jan 2023 | Wright | £1,445 | £1,700 | £2,300 |
![]() Flower Ball: Blood (3D) Takashi Murakami Signed Print | 26 May 2022 | Bonhams Hong Kong | £1,743 | £2,050 | £2,600 |
![]() Flower Ball: Goldfish Takashi Murakami Signed Print | 6 Oct 2021 | Sotheby's Online | £1,785 | £2,100 | £2,750 |
![]() Flower Ball: Burning Blood Takashi Murakami Signed Print | 6 Oct 2021 | Sotheby's Online | £2,083 | £2,450 | £3,300 |
![]() Flower Ball: Red Cliff Takashi Murakami Signed Print | 26 Jan 2021 | Sotheby's Hong Kong | £680 | £800 | £1,050 |
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The Flower Ball series, produced by the renowned and experimental Japanese artist, Takashi Murakami, is an exciting and vibrant series that has arguably become the artist’s most recognisable and iconic.
The collection is composed of exuberant circular paintings in which Murakami produces a distinctive circular shape filled with an intense pattern of flowers. The flowers are rendered in bright and bold colours, bringing an exciting vibrancy to the works. The centre of the flowers resembles the smiley face emoji, and these smiling masks imbue the flowers with emotion. Discussing the smiling flowers, which have become one of Murakami’s most recognisable visual motifs and reappear frequently throughout the artist’s works, Murakami explains: “each one seems to have its own feelings, its own personality”. The individuality of the flowers is reflected in the fact that each flower has a unique combination of colours, which also showcases Murakami’s obsessive attention to detail and sensitivity to colour.
Murakami’s prints tend to have a flat or glossy surface, however in this collection, Murakami’s use of spatial recession produces a mesmerising 3D effect, giving the illusion that the viewer is looking at a three-dimensional flower ball. This is emphasised by the reflective ring of metal foil that runs along the edges of each print.
The addition of emoji-like faces to the cartoon flowers reflects Murakami’s love of popular culture. The artist’s aesthetic is deeply influenced by the Japanese ‘otaku’ culture, a subculture associated with computer nerds, anime and manga (Japanese cartoons and comics), as well as ‘kawaii’ culture, the culture of cuteness. Traditionally considered ‘low’ culture, by incorporating these influences into his artworks which Murakami produces using fine art techniques, the artist blurs the boundary between ‘high’ and ‘low’ culture, demonstrating how the two can co-exist within one piece of art.