''My Lonesome Cowboy'' is a sculpture created in 1998 by Japanese artist

Takashi Murakami is a Japanese contemporary artist. He works in fine arts (such as painting and sculpture) as well as commercial media (such as fashion, merchandise, and animation) and is known for blurring the line between High art, high and low arts. His wo ...

. Produced during Murakami's so-called "bodily fluids" period, the statue depicts an

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

-inspired figure ejaculating a large strand of semen. Like its companion piece '' Hiropon'', ''My Lonesome Cowboy'' is an example of

superflat Superflat is a postmodern art movement, founded by Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami, which is influenced by manga and anime. However, superflat does not have an explicit definition because Takashi Murakami does not want to limit ...

art, an

art movement An art movement is a tendency or style in art with a specific art philosophy or goal, followed by a group of artists during a specific period of time, (usually a few months, years or decades) or, at least, with the heyday of the movement defined ...

founded by Murakami in the 1990s to criticize Japanese consumer culture. The sculpture is noted as among Murakami's most famous works.

Description

''My Lonesome Cowboy'' is an sculpture depicting a smiling nude

-inspired male figure with spiked hair. The figure's legs are spread, and he is gripping his large erect penis, which is ejaculating semen that circles around his body like a

lasso A lasso or lazo ( or ), also called reata or la reata in Mexico, and in the United States riata or lariat (from Mexican Spanish lasso for roping cattle), is a loop of rope designed as a restraint to be thrown around a target and tightened when ...

. Both ''My Lonesome Cowboy'' and its earlier companion piece '' Hiropon'' were produced during Murakami's so-called "bodily fluids" phase in the late 1990s, in which he depicted highly sexualized figures inspired by ''

otaku is a Japanese word that describes people with consuming interests, such as anime, manga, video games, computers or other highly enthusiastic hobbies. Its contemporary use originated with a 1983 essay by Akio Nakamori in '' Manga Burikko''. ...

'' culture. The sculpture is evocative of ''

shunga is a type of Japanese erotic art typically executed as a kind of ukiyo-e, often in Woodcut, woodblock print format. While rare, there are also extant erotic painted handscrolls which predate ukiyo-e. Translated literally, the Japanese word '' ...

'' (a type of historic erotic

ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art that flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock printing, woodblock prints and Nikuhitsu-ga, paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes ...

which often depicted figures with exaggerated genitalia) and

hentai Hentai () is a style of Pornography in Japan, Japanese pornographic anime and manga. In addition to anime and manga, hentai works exist in a variety of media, including artwork and video games (commonly known as ''eroge''). The developme ...

(anime and manga pornography). Murakami hired commercial manufacturers to produce the sculpture in order to maintain fidelity to its ''otaku'' source material. ''My Lonesome Cowboy'' is an example of

art, an

founded by Murakami in the 1990s to criticize Japanese consumer culture. Its title is a dual reference: first to the 1968

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

film ''

Lonesome Cowboys ''Lonesome Cowboys'' is a 1968 American Western drama film directed by Andy Warhol, and written and produced by Paul Morrissey. A satire of Hollywood Westerns, it was initially screened in November 1968 at the San Francisco International Film ...

'', in regards to the pop art movement the film belonged to that was similarly influenced by consumer culture. It additionally references the 1957 film '' Loving You'', in which

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

performs the song "Lonesome Cowboy" in a pose that similarly emphasizes his thighs and pelvis.

Casts

Murakami produced three casts plus two

artist's proof An artist's proof is an impression (copy) of a limited edition (printmaking), edition print that is reserved for the artist and not counted in the edition number. It is usually pencilled as "A/P" to indicated this. By convention they are not usuall ...

s of ''My Lonesome Cowboy'', with the hair of the figure being of different colors in each of the casts. In 2008, the fourth numbered edition of ''My Lonesome Cowboy'' sold at an auction by

Sotheby's Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

for

USD$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

15.1 million, nearly four times the amount at which it was valued. At the time, the sale made Murakami one of the most expensive living artists in the world.

Reception

''My Lonesome Cowboy'' is noted as among Murakami's most famous works. ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' art critic

Roberta Smith Roberta Smith (born 1948) is co-chief art critic of ''The New York Times'' and a lecturer on contemporary art. She is the first woman to hold that position at the Times. Education and early life Born in 1948 in New York City and raised in Lawre ...

wrote that both it and ''Hiropon'' "mesmerize through an unsettling combination of innocence, carnal knowledge, beauty, exquisite artifice and arrested movement", though argued that ''My Lonesome Cowboy'' is "simplistically macho" compared to the more "nuanced" ''Hiropon''. She nonetheless assesses both pieces favorably, arguing "after their shock value has declined, as all shock value must, they are still interesting to look at", arguing that both pieces are more successful than the erotic sculptures of

Jeff Koons Jeffrey Lynn Koons (; born January 21, 1955) is an American artist recognized for his work dealing with popular culture and his sculptures depicting everyday objects, including balloon animals produced in stainless steel with mirror- finish s ...

and Allen Jones. Art scholar Grace McQuilten is more critical of the piece, calling it "cute and colourful enough to appeal to a general audience at the same time as carrying off a semblance of social critique", arguing that it merely "reproduce a popular fetish" and does not "challenge or modify the ''otaku'' stereotype".

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web , title=Superflat Artworks , url=https://www.theartstory.org/movement/superflat/artworks/ , website=The Art Story , accessdate=26 September 2020 {{cite journal , last1=Zohar , first1=Aylet , editor1-last=Vincent , editor1-first=J. Keith , editor2-last=Cornyetz , editor2-first=Nina , title=Pelluses/phani , journal=Perversion and Modern Japan Psychoanalysis, Literature, Culture , date=2010 , issue=Taylor & Francis , pages=102–125 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CvZ8AgAAQBAJ , isbn=9781134031542 {{cite web , title=Takashi Murakami: MY LONESOME COWBOY , url=http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2008/contemporary-art-evening-auction-n08441/lot.9.html , website=

, accessdate=26 September 2020 {{cite journal , last1=McQuilten , first1=Grace , title=Takashi Murakami: The Meaning of the Nonsense of the Meaning , journal=Menlo Park , date=March 2013 , volume=1 , issue=1 , url=http://menlopark.ca/takashi-murakami-the-meaning-of-the-nonsense-of-the-meaning/ {{cite web , last1=Vogel , first1=Carol , title=Bacon Triptych Auctioned for Record $86 Million , url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/15/arts/design/15auction.html , website=

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

, accessdate=26 September 2020 , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180117060820/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/15/arts/design/15auction.html , archivedate=17 January 2018 , date=15 May 2008 {{cite web , last1=Smith , first1=Roberta , title=Art in Review: Takashi Murakami , url=http://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/05/arts/art-in-review-takashi-murakami.html , website=The New York Times , accessdate=26 September 2020 , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403073633/http://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/05/arts/art-in-review-takashi-murakami.html , archivedate=3 April 2015 , date=5 February 1999 1998 sculptures Japanese contemporary art Pop art Nude sculptures of men Semen Sculptures by Takashi Murakami