Ink, pastel, collage, gouache, enamel on paper

42.4 x 54.5 cm. 16 3/4 × 21 1/2 in.

Signed in Japanese and English, titled in Japanese and dated on the reverse
PROVENANCE
Important Private Collection, Asia

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

Encountering Life with Fresh Eyes
Premiere of a Rare “Two Person Image” Work on Paper of Yayoi Kusama in Auction

“Your soul on a hibiscus-like cloud blends with the radiance of a pink soft rainbow. Parting is akin to light steps walking along a brightly coloured path of fresh flowers. Beyond the rosy red clouds of the setting sun lies silence.”
——Yayoi Kusama

After returning from New York to Tokyo in 1973, Yayoi Kusama started to explore a wide range of media and forms. As a result, from 1977 to the early 1980s she created a series of semi-abstract works using “enamel paint and cardboard.” This involved not using the polka dots the artist habitually employed, but rather exploring an unknown sensory experience, utilizing the unique colour and refined texture of enamel to create the subtle changes and richness of living things in the real world. The work being auctioned is Two Person in the Sunset completed in 1977, which employs a representational motif that was particularly rare in the artist's use of this medium. In terms of enamel paint, Kusama employs many different colours to construct a poetic romantic dream-like world similar to that of French artist Marc Chagall, emitting a life energy that makes it appear “encountered for the first time.”

The work is divided into two halves using sky blue and magenta hues, with the upper blue resembling a gradually darkening sky as the sun sets and thereby symbolizing the passing of time. Kusama dips a leaf in black acrylic paint and imprints this on the painting to craft an undulating mountain terrain, adding a ray of bright white acrylic spray paint to emphasize the changing horizon line under the clear sky. Moreover, the red and yellow stretching from the centre to the bottom of the work resembles the pleasant warmth of the sun, which within the natural gradual changes brings to mind poetic reverie, warmly embracing the main characters in the painting.

The Life Encounters of Moving Stars

Two Person in the Sunset is the only “full body portrait of two people” by Yayoi Kusama to appear at auction in more than 30 years, making it particularly rare. The artist uses fine black lines to paint two young girls basking in the afterglow of the setting sun. The girl with the long hair on the left has her face turned to the side and her bright eyes wide open as she stares at the horizon. She also boldly bares her breasts, showcasing the avant-garde western cultural idea of “sexual liberation.” The girl on the right has a bob haircut in what appears to be a self-portrait of Kusama. Her eyes are tightly closed tightly and she is wearing a gorgeous dress, stockings and stylistically exaggerated high-heel shoes. Although the girl is dressed up, she is imprisoned like an Asian “sleeping beauty” waiting to be woken from her slumber. Yayoi Kusama uses the different identities, clothing and posture of the two girls to ingeniously highlight the differences and creative context of Asian culture. In a time and space that is fixed and beautiful this piece speaks to the artist's mindset at different times and in different encounters. The two girls are juxtaposed with their heads almost touching as if they never met each other and live in parallel universes, each living a completely different life to the other.

Price estimate:
HKD 380,000 – 480,000
USD 48,700 – 61,500