Watercolour on paperboard

24 .2×27.2cm. 9 1/2 × 10 3/4 in.

Signed in English, dated with artist's seal on upper right; signed in English, titleed and dated on reverse
PROVENANCE
YOD Gallery, Osaka
Acquired directly by present Asian collector from the above

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

Yayoi Kusama‘s Emotional Code
Captive Doll vs Butterfly

Outstanding and independent from the world, Kusama's creation is an expression of life aesthetics in the predicament. In the installation Captive Doll (Lot 79) completed in 1988, the image of a girl in a long skirt is painted in pink, conveying a strong sense of fantasy. The square birdcage and the protagonist inside are covered by the silver net, which is densely wound from the outside to the inside. The wire is in sharp contrast with the sweet pink, as if the scars that traditional values and tests of the real world left on the girl's heart. This tendency towards sweet colors and the concept of imprisonment show the inner connection between this work and Kusama's creations in the 1970s. Moreover, the work is feminist about the reality of women in society, boldly and outspokenly showing their true inner feelings.
In addition to iconic elements such as polka dots and infinity nets, another element, birdcage, was also often used in her paintings and sculptures from the 1970s to 1980s. Artist has the female celebrities as the subjects, and a layer of barbed wire placed on the canvas. It makes the person in the painting seem to be trapped in a cage, revealing a clear meaning of imprisonment, which is an important turning point in the awakening of the female power of Kusama.

In Captive Doll, Kusama presents the two-dimensional birdcage series in a more realistic three-dimensional way, creating a lost wonderland, making the work more self-referential. For Kusama, the birdcage has a very special emotional connection. Her lifelong lover Joseph Cornell, known as “the first great surrealist in America”, is famous for his glass box installation. Bird is the most classic element of his installation. For example, various colorful birds are enclosed in small wooden boxes, just like Cornell himself imprisoned by disease. The resonance of artistic concepts derived from disease and loneliness makes Conor and Kusama the best soul companion. In Captive Doll, the swan and bird appearing under the girl's feet seem to create a dialogue across time and space with her past lover, Conor, who died in 1972. Kusama transforms her lover into a swan, and uses the birds to accompany him, adding a subtle sentiment and recourse to the work.

Miracle in the Predicament

In the limited frame of the watercolor Butterfly (Lot 78) completed in 1980, the colorful butterfly becomes the absolute visual center with a huge volume, showing the outside world the dreamy color like a petal. Butterfly, as another classic element often used by Kusama, appears repeatedly in her works with different media. Both her yellow Pumpkin and Butterfly are favored by collectors. In Butterfly, the wings stretched to the sides are like pink satin, as if permeated with bright starlight, bursting with golden light at the edges. It is like the spiritual butterfly in Wonderland that brings miracles to Alice. Free it from the entangled giant web and step into a new world.

Her paintings with the theme butterfly show strong originality, not only integrating the artist's unique illusion technique, but also expressing her pursuit of living along the water like a butterfly, walking with the light, and being reborn in a new art world.

Price estimate:
HKD: 180,000 – 250,000
USD: 23,200 – 32,200

Auction Result:
HKD: 684,400