Takashi Murakami was born in 1962 in Tokyo, Japan. He has been both noted and criticized for his culturally rich style of contemporary art. His critics argue that he “sells out” art by taking a commercial approach to art and creating a style of pseudo-Japanese pop culture.

Reeling from the reviews, Takashi Murakami becomes a landmark contributor to contemporary art with his invented style called “superflat,” which is a theory based on the flat, 2-D images of Japanese style manga and anime. In 2002, Takashi Murakami was invited by Marc Jacobs, designer of Louis Vuitton, to collaborate on a 13-year project to translate Murakami’s style into LV’s signature brand.

Murakami has an extensive collection of contemporary paintings with an average price tag of $1.8 million per work. His record-breaking painting sold at auction for $4.2 million, called Tin Castle (1998). Although Takeshi’s art is highly regarded, entry-level works worth $30,000 can be found among his paintings.