Yayoi Kusama - Contemporary Art Evening Sale London Friday, October 12, 2007 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    OTA Fine Arts, Tokyo

  • Catalogue Essay

    Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s art revolves around the principal themes of infinity, self-representation, sexuality and compulsive repetition. Since the late 1950s her "Infinity Nets"; a series of heroically-scaled paintings covered in endlessly repetitive net-like patterns would provide her with the admiration of numerous artists ranging from Barnett Newman to Donald Judd.

    "With the great efforts, and by trading on the endless wilderness that leads to creation, I want to fight my battles to the end with all my might. For this, I can’t afford to waste even a moment. Looking back and realizing that I have spent years of hardships, I am now more determined than ever to struggle even more strenuously with the questions of what is a human being, and what is ‘love’, ‘life’ and ‘death’.”
    (taken from the Tokyo Modern Art Museum Exhibition Catalogue the present Time of Eternity, 2004)

  • Artist Biography

    Yayoi Kusama

    Japanese

    Named "the world's most popular artist" in 2015, it's not hard to see why Yayoi Kusama continues to dazzle contemporary art audiences globally. From her signature polka dots—"fabulous," she calls them—to her mirror-and-light Infinity Rooms, Kusama's multi-dimensional practice of making art elevates the experience of immersion. To neatly pin an artistic movement onto Kusama would be for naught: She melds and transcends the aesthetics and theories of many late twentieth century movements, including Pop Art and Minimalism, without ever taking a singular path.

    As an octogenarian who still lives—somewhat famously—in a psychiatric institution in Tokyo and steadfastly paints in her immaculate studio every day, Kusama honed her punchy cosmic style in New York City in the 1960s. During this period, she staged avant-garde happenings, which eventually thrust her onto the international stage with a series of groundbreaking exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art in the 1980s and the 45th Venice Biennale in 1993. She continues to churn out paintings and installations at inspiring speed, exhibiting internationally in nearly every corner of the globe, and maintains a commanding presence on the primary market and at auction.

    View More Works

320

Galaxy (Red) A, B, C

1991
Triptych: Oil on canvas.
46 x 36 in. (116.8 x 91.5 cm) each.
Signed and dated “Yayoi Kusama 1991” on the reverse of each panel in English and Japanese characters.

Estimate
£80,000 - 120,000 

Sold for £180,000

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

Evening Sale
13 October 2007, 4pm
London