Takashi Murakami's production company, Kaikai Kiki, succeeded in getting a sculpture by the artist pulled from Christie's June 30 postwar and contemporary art evening sale, Artnet reports. The withdrawal is part of a larger legal effort by Murakami to stop a collector from flipping his work.

Japanese real estate company Cerulean LLC bought Flower Ball Blood (3-D) V, an acrylic-and-platinum-leaf relief with grinning flowers, in January 2007 for ¥68 million ($644,000). The sale included a contract that prohibits the resale of the work for 10 years, but it turned up at Christie's. After getting it pulled from the auction house's sale, Kaikai Kiki says it has learned that "a person or entity is seeking to consign or sell the artwork to a gallery, despite the ongoing litigation and the cloud on title." In fact, Murakami dealer Tim Blum of Blum & Poe confirmed that he received a "very naïve email" a few days after the Christie's sale from someone looking to get $3 million for the work.

Kaikai Kiki secured a legal injucntion in Tokyo District Court on July 4 and is asking for ¥5.5 million from Cerulean for breach of contract. In the meantime, Murakami's representatives have issued a statement cautioning dealers not to buy Flower Ball Blood in light of the legal issues surrounding it.