Acrylic on canvas

15.8 x 22.7 cm. 6 1/4 x 8 7/8 in.

Note：This work is accompanied by a Yayoi Kusama’s Art Work Registration Card provided by Yayoi Kusama’s studio.


Yayoi Kusama
To Kusama Yayoi,pumpkin was both a childhood comfort as well as a self-epitome in the world. The motif means so much to her that she made a pumpkin-like headpiece to wear at a performance. At Kusama’s 2014 solo exhibition at Victoria Miro in London,she recited a poem,On Pumpkin,to express her heart felt love for the produce’s “generous unpretentiousness that soothes her soul”.
Pumpkin has a unique meaning to Kusama. She recalled their first encounter,“The first time I saw a pumpkin was in the fields back when I was still in elementary school…I tugged the vine of a pumpkin through a bush of sunflowers. It began to speak to me in an animated manner. Moist with dew,the pumpkin looked incredibly lovely and felt extremely soft to the touch.” When Kusama turned 17 or 18 years old,her drawing of pumpkin won a prize at a local competition. The painting consisted of pumpkins of different sizes drawn in mineral pigments on traditional Japanese Nihonga materials. After World War II,she began her 4 years training at the Kyoto City University of Arts in 1948. During her time in Kyoto,she stayed at a haiku poet’s residence,spent sleepless nights depicting her favourite pumpkin. “In my bedroom on the second floor,I spent days after days drawing the pumpkin. Every day before dawn,I would lay some craft paper and my brushes over the red carpet,and sit for meditation. When the sun rose,I sat squarely in front of the pumpkin and focused entirely on its form,as if I’ve left the world behind me. Like Bodhidharma spent ten years facing the wall,I spent a whole month studying one single pumpkin. I even thought sleeping was a waste of time for me.”
The two works in this sale are Kusama’s signature series on pumpkins. Each featuring a succulent bright yellow pumpkin with jet black polka dots on black skin against a web of yellow lines. One wide and flat,the other narrow and tall,the two pumpkins parade their loveliness and vigor in a humorous manner,each of them unique in its own way. The dots of different sizes run upwards to form rhythmic lines. The stems have colors opposite to the skin—with yellow polka dots on black skin. The two works show how Kusama makes use of geometry and simple elements to create playful visual illusions. The infinite repetition of polka dots is a signature pattern in Kusama’s art. She once said,“The shape of the dots is like the sun and the moon…they embody motion…they are the path to infinity.” The stocky and hardy pumpkin that grows low from the ground,evoke a fierce yet modest strength.
Kusama also makes human-size sculptures and wall reliefs of pumpkins. At the 45th Venice Biennale,her work Mirror Room（Pumpkin）enabled the spectators to enter the infinite space inside the cavity of a pumpkin.

Price estimate:
HKD：480,000 - 580,000
USD：61,900 - 74,800

Auction Result:
HKD:649,000