Masturbating Figure Auctioned for $15 million
- Categories: Figures, News
- Date: May 15, 2008 20:37 JST
- Tags: Auctions, Figures, Fine Art, My Lonesome Cowboy, Onani, Sculptures, Takashi Murakami
“My Lonesome Cowboy”, a figure created by Japanese pop artist 村上隆 / Takashi Murakami, was auctioned off at $15 million in a New York auction, vastly exceeding the expected price of $3-4 million.
The 254cm high figure (including his ejaculation, otherwise roughly life size), which might thus also be called a statue, depicts a naked man engaged in an act of fantastic onanism, in the style of a shonen manga. It was created using steel, acrylic and fiberglass in 1998.
According to Sotheby’s, the highest price previously fetched by Murakami’s work was “Panda”, at a positively meager $3 million, so this represents something of a triumph for him. The identity of the buyer will likely remain a closely guarded secret for reasons we can only guess at.
More detail of this outstanding artwork is below, as well as another fine work along the same lines. See here for an interview with the great artist explaining the work. Here is an English language report on the auction.
ROTFL
OMG…
Semen-Lasso Boy & Jump-Milk-Rope Girl
LOLZZZ
Zomg wtf rotflmao
WHAT THE F***!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
WH THE HELL BUYS A MASTURBATING GUY STATUE FOR 15 MILLION!?!?!?
whoever bought it is a complete idiot! i mean what the f***, seriously oh oh oh let me guess, a guy bought, am i right?
this is really scare o.O
I wonder how many babies he can make with all that semen. o.O
What…
wow just… wow O__o
Did you say two and a half meters tall?
While I am mildly curious about who would have bought it (or rather, how the bid war rose to 15m), I’m much more curious about what they will do with it, and where they will put it.
buying it is one thing, but what are the movers and passerby gonna think XD
I. Am. Speechless.
I saw both of those up close at an exhibition in Frankfurt… impressive, but I too have to shake my head.
Thats how you make money….
this is not strange. The artist, Murakami, is one of the most important artists of the moment around the world.
And these figures are too old…. they were made in 1999.
THIS! IS! AVANT GARDE!
…
To use a pop art phrase of Lichenstein: “BANG” An excellent word which covers a multitude of possibilities one may only guess at