Acrylic on canvas

15.8 x 22.7 cm. 6 1/4 × 8 7/8 in.

Signed in English, titled in Japanese and dated on the reverse
PROVENANCE
15 May 2017, Kingsley Taipei Spring Auctions, Lot 504
2 Dec 2018, Ravenel Taipei Autumn Auctions, Lot 221
Acquired directly by present important Asian collector from the above

This work is accompanied with a registration card issued by Yayoi Kusama studio

Blooming and Shining, A Masterpiece of Colours
Yayoi Kusama's Colourful Year

In 1973, Kusama returned to Japan from the passionate pop art wave in New York, but encountered a cold reception of Japanese conservative culture. Kusama, disappointed by the self-proclaimed local art scene, moved to a mental hospital in Tokyo on her own and then established a studio nearby. Since then, she began non-stop creation. In the isolated space, she kept using pumpkin as the protagonist, determined to reshape herself from scratch. After persistent exploration and practice in the 1980s, her works gradually began to gain recognition in Japan and emerged in the international art scene.

The Queen Returns, Crowned with Distinctive Colors

Looking throught Kusama's works, pumpkin has always been her most popular and enduring visual image. It runs through all stages of her creation and the use of different media. The nearly perfect sequence of large and small dots not only has the exquisite technique of medieval painting, but also contains the avant-garde spiritual questioning of contemporary art. However, if you look back at her creations from 1987 to 1990, you will be surprised by the uniquely colorful combination and the shockingly interesting composition. It makes people feel as if they have fallen into the wonderland from the Alice's Adventure in Wonderland. The state of “blooming like spring” and “wealthy as if the autumn harvest” all began in 1987, when Kusama stood at the center of the world art stage again. She first held a solo exhibition at the Kitakyushu Museum of Art in Japan. In the following year, she returned to the International Center for Contemporary Art in New York again, standing on where she was 15 years ago. Her solo exhibition at CCA once again garnered the collective attention of the Western academic circles, and this also contributed to her becoming the first artist to represent Japan in a solo exhibition in the Venice International Art Biennale in 1993. An endless art boom with her as the core begins since then. During the four years bloom of her artistic career, the Pumpkin created in her down time also showed a radiance rarely seen before. Those Pumpkin are completely different from the monochromatic pumpkin created by the artist later.

In this spring auction, China Guardian Hong Kong gathered nine classic works of Kusama interpreted by different materials, two of which were completed in 1990 including two remarkable classic themes of her: Infinity Net and Pumpkin, showing the brilliance of avant-garde queen of the generation.

Drifting Green on Running Red, The Story of Autumn
The Realm of Inaction in Pumpkin

“Pumpkins have such lovely shapes. ......What attracts me are their unpowdered bellies and their strong sense of security.”
——Yayoi Kusama

The Pumpkin (Lot 76), created in 1990, brought together the classic elements of the Kusama Pumpkin series in this unique and special stage, and became the representative of the most outstanding in the series of works of the same size, making the piece precious and rare. With her classic composition, Kusama presents a plump, dazzling yellow pumpkin with black dots in the center of the frame. The unique black polka dots are carefully arranged in orders with varying sizes. Through the closed loop of small to large dots, she enables the viewers to feel the spacial volume of the pumpin. The boundary between realistic and abstract forms is blurred as well. The yellow body continues to expand to the surroundings, forming an interminable net structure with a scale-like texture, while the contrast between red and black enhances the full shape of the yellow body. The tooth tips on the left and right sides of the screen facing the inside of the canvas converge the viewer's eyes to the center in the polka dot texture. The thick melon stems goes upward vertically, giving the screen a longitudinal momentum, contending with the forces of horizontal attacks, giving Pumpkin an extraordinarily realistic ambience.

In the 1980s, Kusama, who didn't get a warm welcome in Japan, devoted herself into the creation of pumpkin works. The eye-catching and disorderly white spots on both sides contrasts sharply with the calm and orderly black spots on the pumpkin body as a way to express herself against the outside world. The red-brown scale-like texture under the pumpkin is like a reef with traps, making the “prey” in the center of a target. Here, Kusama presents a variation of the Infinity Net to show her real creativity and all kinds of struggles she has been facing. The pumpkin in the center of the canvas seems to have been smoothed out along the years, but the thick and powerful melon stems stubbornly fight back against the hostility of the outside world, moving more people in its special way. Just like the calm pumpkin in the painting, when compared with extreme sharpness of the sides, what Kusama yearns for is the quiet and firm “one person, one world” status, where warmth and lights are sealed inside.

The Growing Vines Bring Back the Memories of Spring
The Happiness in Fresh Verdue

Fresh Verdure (Lot 77), which was completed in the same year as Pumpkin, creates a vibrant and varying space on the screen in dark green. The white vines are spreading out like cells in an orderly manner, as if they are growing. The vines, with thin branches and stems, form an overwhelming potential, acting as a support of the vast world. The paintings are just like Pommier en fleurs and Composition created by Piet Mondrian in his early days, using the language of schema to convey the beauty of life, and at the same time, with the help of subtle changes, an undercurrent is formed, showing a shining inner continuity.

Under the influence of visual and auditory hallucinations, Kusama acquired a unique visual perspective on the world of green plants since she was a child, and only in nature can she “forget everything” and thus obtain the salvation of the soul. Therefore, in this work, Kusama incorporates the memories of spring into the painting, symbolizing the vitality of life with a mesh structure, and even evolving it into a stigma that highlights the power of women. With the help of the powerful continuity and innovation of art, she boldly speaks out in the male-dominated circle of contemporary art. Fresh Verdure heralds the process of Kusama's dream to be unfolded in the new world after she gained the awakening of her own power in the struggle, and finally transforms her inner powerful energy into the fruit of art, which will be harvested in the infinitely extending web of times. The abundance of Fresh Verdue and the fullness of spring sent out from the works move people's hearts, as she repeatedly says, “I hope my arts can bring happiness to the world.”

Price estimate:
HKD: 1,500,000 – 2,500,000
USD: 193,400 – 322,400

Auction Result:
HKD: 2,950,000