Acrylic on canvas

50 x 60.6 cm.19 5/8 x 23 7/8 in.

Titled in Japanese；dated 1983 and signed in english on the reverse
PROVENANCE Japanese Private Collection;
Kujaku Gallery Art Space, Tokyo, Japan;
Present owner acquired from above gallery.
NOTE This work is accompanied with a Yayoi Kusama’s Art Work Registration Card.

KUSAMA YAYOI
(b.1929-)
In 1973, bidding farewell to the hustle and bustle of New York City, Yayoi Kusama returned to Japan and began a new era in her career as an artist. Instead of a “Polka Dot Queen” in the spotlight of mainstream media, she maintained a low profile when she received treatment in a mental health center. In the rest of her life, she has led a regular, peaceful life there: She gets up at 7 a.m. to do a physical checkup and then goes to her studio at 10 a.m. and works there until 6 or 7 p.m. She has put all her heart into art and created a number of works during the period, of which paintings with everyday life as the subjects become the main part of her art creation. Her internationally acclaimed Pumpkin series were created during the period.

Painted in 1983, Still Life with Pumpkins is an early piece of Kusama’s Pumpkin series. In addition to a round pumpkin, the painting also depicts two onions, two cherry fruits, two eggplants, a garlic bulb, and a long pumpkin through the use of bright colors. Such a composition is rare. The onion is something meaningful for Kusama. In 1948, she painted Onion as a graduation project when she studied at Kyoto Municipal School of Arts and Crafts. With illusionary halftone patterns as the background, the painting testifies to Kusama’s mastery of Japanese painting techniques, as well as the basic style of her future art creation. Kusama herself was satisfied with the painting, claiming confidently that it was obviously the “most eye-catching and impressive of all works.” The painting Onion was hung in the bedroom of her father until his death. Kusama had a love-hate relationship with her father. At an early age, she witnessed her father’s betrayal to her mother by having a string of affairs, which cast a shadow so deep that Kusama fears of sexual relations throughout the rest of her life. Compared to her mother who vehemently disapproved Kusama’s dream of becoming an artist, however, her father was always supportive and often bought her high-end painting tools and supplies. The onion thus served as a special link and symbol in the complex relationship between Kusama and her father. When she painted the onions in Still Life with Pumpkins, Kusama shook off the immaturity of her early years and retained her delicateness in feeling, bestowing on the onions even more symbolic meanings.

In her autobiography, Kusama wrote that she loved to paint pumpkins and flowers in the barn alone when she was a child and she felt as if those plants could talk with her and glitter with dim light. They later became a key source of inspiration for Kusama. She injects life into everyday subjects by painting them with polka dots. In fact, those certain elements that keep reproduce by themselves are rooted in Kusama’s obsession and hallucination. She turns the weir images in her brain into polka-dotted pieces of art. For instance, polka dots are painted in an orderly, rhythmic manner in Still Life with Pumpkins. The veins of the plants are painted with crowded bigger dots, creating a sense of tension. Then, dots gradually vanish towards the boundaries of the subjects, creating an ambience of emptiness. Due to her skillful use of dots in her art, Kusama has been reputed “Polka Dot Queen” globally. However, she isn’t the first to use polka dots in art. American pop culture Roy Lichtenstein’s advertising posters are also characterized by dotty background. Their difference is that the polka dots Kusama painted feature eccentric tenacity and are full of emotions. Gazing at the dots in her work, viewers may unconsciously fall into her spiritual world.

Price estimate:
HKD：1,400,000 - 1,800,000
USD：180,600 - 232,300

Auction Result:
HKD: 3,335,000