YAYOI KUSAMA - Pumpkin (White T), 1992

YAYOI KUSAMA (b.1929)

Pumpkin (White T), 1992

Screenprint [2 screens, 2 colours, 2 runs]

Image size: 72.3 by 60.4 cm; 28 7/16 by 23 3/4 in

Sheet size: 83.5 by 70.5 cm; 32 7/8 by 27 3/4 in

Executed in 1992, this work is numbered 89/120 from an edition of 120 plus 4 printer's proofs and 12 artist's proofs. Printed by Okabe Tokuzo.

Hand-signed by the artist, signed and numbered 89/120 lower right and lower left respectively.

Literature

Illustrated in Yayoi Kusama Prints 1979-2017, Tokyo, 2019, no. 149, p. 98 (another example illustrated)

Artwork Description Celebrated as one of the most influential living artists, Yayoi Kusama is renowned for her installations, sculptures, and paintings. Born in 1929 in Matsumoto, Nagano, Japan, Kusama began painting pumpkins and creating artwork to express her hallucinations at a young age, which would later shape her career. In 1958, after moving to Seattle, she moved to New York City where she became friends with artists Donald Judd and Joseph Cornell. It was during this time that Infinity Nets paintings, intricate webs and repetitive brushstrokes were developed. Through organising and participating in a series of happenings and Pop performances, Kusama rose to prominence in the 1960s. Although she returned to Japan since the early 1970s due to the status of her mental health, she continued to create art in the hospital and later returned to the scene at the 1993 Venice Biennale. In 2021, Kusama’s acrylic on canvas Pumpkin (LPASG) (2013) has broken her previous records with HK $62.5 million (US $8 million) at Christie’s auction.

Kusama's work is in the collections of museums throughout the world, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix; Tate Modern, London; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT; and the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. In October 2006, Kusama became the first Japanese woman to receive the Praemium Imperiale, one of Japan's highest honours for internationally recognized artists.
Kusama has been suffering from mental disorders throughout her life, the “soul” is like an old friend whom she has revisited over and over for many years in the process of finding her true self and inner peace. According to Kusama, the recurring subject of “pumpkin” in her works has always acted as a home to her soul and provide her with great comfort and calmness against the mental chaos.
This Pumpkin (White T) is a limited-edition print by Yayoi Kusama executed in 1992 with a numbered edition of 120 plus 4 printer's proofs and 12 artist's proofs It is hand-signed by the artist on the lower right; titled, dated 1992 and numbered 89/120 on the lower left. Despite the recurring composition of a pumpkin spanning over the painting’s surface, it is not common to see it in such tremendous scale that measures 72.3 cm by 60.4 cm, and even rarer for a pumpkin in monochrome and colourless. Despite the age, this work is kept in an excellent condition. It was documented in “Yayoi Kusama: Prints 1979-2017” by ABE Publishing Ltd, Tokyo, Japan. The dotting lines have not only highlighted the signature pumpkin shape against the background; their curves have also added the vividness to the subject as if paving a path for its continuous growth beyond the painting.

草間彌生（1929年生）

《南瓜(白T)》（藝術家親筆簽名含畫框）

絲網印刷

一九九二年作

畫作尺寸：72.3 x 60.4 公分；28 7/16 x 23 3/4 英寸

紙張尺寸：83.5 x 70.5 cm 公分；32 7/8 x 27 3/4 英寸

款識：藝術家親筆簽名 (作品底部)

版數：89/120 (此作共120版+12版A.P.+4版P.P.)

關於作品 作為最有影響力的在世藝術家之一，草間彌生以其裝置、雕塑和繪畫而聞名。她於 1929 年出生於日本長野縣松本市，從小就開始創作和繪畫來表達她的幻覺，尤以南瓜為題，這對她後來一生中的創作非常關鍵。1958 年，草間輾轉從美國西雅圖再搬到了紐約市，在那裡跟藝術家唐納·賈德和約瑟夫·康奈爾成為了朋友。正是在這段時間裡，她創作了「無限之網」、複雜的網和重複的波點筆觸，並一直沿用在其作品之中。草間彌生通過組織和參與一系列活動和流行表演，在 1960 年代聲名鵲起。儘管她在 1970 年代初期因心理健康狀況而返回日本，但她仍繼續在療養院創作，後來在 1993 年威尼斯雙年展上重放光芒。 2021 年，草間彌生的布上壓克力作品《南瓜 (LPASG) 》 (2013) 在佳士得拍賣會上以 6250 萬港元（800 萬美元）的價格，打破了她之前的紀錄，成為她最高價的作品。草間彌生的作品被世界各地的博物館收藏，包括紐約現代藝術博物館（MoMA）、洛杉磯郡立藝術館（LACMA）、沃克藝術中心、鳳凰美術館、泰特現代藝術館、阿姆斯特丹市立博物館、巴黎蓬皮杜藝術中心、猶他美術館和東京國立近代美術館。 2006 年 10 月，草間彌生成為首位榮獲「高松宮殿下紀念世界文化獎」的日本女性，此為日本國際知名藝術家最高榮譽獎項之一。草間彌生童年時開始有嚴重的幻覺，令她飽受折磨，她的作品多年來亦離不開探尋「靈魂」，或者可說是她心靈上的「安身之所」。據她所述，經常在她畫作中出現的南瓜便是她的「靈魂之家」，讓她在巨大的精神苦痛與混沌中汲取一絲安慰和平靜。《南瓜（白T）》為草間彌生1992年出版的限量版畫，共有120版，另加12件藝術家試版和4件P.P.。右下角有藝術家親筆簽名，而左下方包括作品標題、年份，並標上編號89/120，作品保存完好。儘管南瓜的構圖反復出現在草間彌生的作品中，但如此大尺寸（72.3厘米 x 60.4厘米）的南瓜並非常見，單色版本就更罕見。雖然作品出版已有30年，它的狀況仍保存完好。此作被收錄於日本東京阿部出版株式會社《草間彌生：全版圖1979-2017》。點狀的線條不僅在一片虛無的背景中突出了標誌性的南瓜形狀，其彎彎曲曲的方向也為南瓜增添了生動感，彷彿寄寓它在畫外還不斷地延伸。