Bronze sculpture Edition: 3/30

7.5×8.5×8.5 cm. 3×3 3/8×3 3/8 in.

Signed in English and dated on the underside
PROVENANCE
Kura Gallery, Tokyo
Important Private Collection, Asia

This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity with an artist's seal issued by Kura Gallery, Tokyo

A Simple Ode to Love and Eternity: Yayoi Kusama's Hymn to Life
The Origin and Deeper Meaning of the Pumpkin

Yayoi Kusama is a monumental figure in 20th-century art history, with a deep connection to pumpkins that traces back to her childhood. She grew up in a plant nursery family in Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture, where plants were an integral part of her daily life. The soft shape and full curves of pumpkins captivated her. A hallucinatory experience in her youth made pumpkins a profound symbol in her psyche. Pumpkins were not only a source of artistic inspiration but also a staple food during difficult times. During her studies at the Kyoto Arts And Crafts University, Kusama often secluded herself, persistently painting pumpkins.

In the late 1970s, as she struggled with mental illness, pumpkins became a source of comfort, which she regarded as benevolent spirits. Since the 1980s, pumpkins have been a central element in many of her paintings and sculptures. In 1991, her pumpkin sculpture Mirror Room (Pumpkin) debuted at the Oyamazaki Villa Museum in Japan, utilizing mirrored surfaces to create a visual effect of infinitely extending pumpkin sculptures, solidifying the pumpkin as a signature element of her work. In 1993, she became the first female artist to have an independent exhibition at the Venice Biennale, further cementing her position in the global contemporary art world.

Seeds of Resilience Merging with the Cosmos

The limited edition bronze sculpture Pumpkin A, created by Yayoi Kusama after she participated in the 1993 Venice Biennale, resembles a metallic seed encapsulating her deep contemplation of life, nature, and the cosmos. This sculpture showcases the simple yet profound beauty of the pumpkin's round, expansive form, echoing Kusama's own words: "The shape of the pumpkin is so endearing, with its unadorned, bulbous form and the powerful sense of tranquillity it imparts."

The surface of the sculpture is densely covered with orderly polka dots, resembling the imprints of intense flames, giving it a stone-like texture. The variation in dot sizes enhances the sculpture's three-dimensionality, evoking a sense of dynamic expansion and contraction. The dots themselves, like the paths of stars in the universe, symbolize the infinite cosmos and eternal time.

The pumpkin's eight segments embody balance and calm, with its grand, outward-spreading form contrasting with the intricate simplicity of the polka dots, creating a tension between complexity and simplicity. Through these dots, Kusama expresses the dissolution and integration of the individual. The traditional bronze sculpting techniques imbue the work with a sense of historical weight and a crafted warmth and texture. Pumpkin A is not only a tribute to Kusama's childhood memories but also a profound expression of shared human emotions, conveying her eternal pursuit—"to dissolve ourselves in love and achieve everlasting harmony."

Price estimate:
HKD 250,000 – 350,000
USD 32,100 – 44,900

Auction Result:
HKD: 300,000