Yayoi Kusama

Private Collection, Washington, D.C (acquired directly from the artist)
Acquired by the present owner from the above circa 1970

Washington, D.C., Gres Gallery, Yayoi Kusama, April 1960
Pittsburgh, Carnegie Institute, Department of Fine Arts, The1961 Pittsburgh International Exhibition of Contemporary Painting and Sculpture, October 1961 - January 1962, cat. no. 210
Philadelphia, Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Group Zero, October 1964
New York, Center for International Contemporary Arts, Yayoi Kusama: A Retrospective, September 1989 – January 1990

This work is in excellent condition. Please contact the Contemporary Art Department at 212-606-7254 for a condition report prepared by Terrence Mahon. This work is framed in white painted wood strip frame with a large float, behind Plexiglas.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Completed shortly after her move to New York in 1958, Kusama's The West from 1960 is an excellent example of the artist's signature Infinity Net paintings.  These paintings question the line between illusion and reality as their appearance shifts within the period of the viewer's perception.  At first the rich mauve impasto imparts a sense of solidity but as one continues to look the gray background peeks through the openings, accentuating the net that veils a deeper void.  Kusama's childhood was plagued with hallucinatory visions in the form of repetitive proliferating spots, nets and flowers that threatened to overwhelm her, and this mental state clearly informed her work.  She stated, "My room, my body, the entire universe was filled with [patterns], my self was eliminated, and I had returned and been reduced to the infinity of eternal time and the absolute of space.  This was not an illusion but reality." (Laura Hoptman, Akira Tatehata and Udo Kultermann, Yayoi Kusama, London, 2000, pp. 35-36)

At a time when the art scene in the United States was very much dominated by the American Abstract Expressionists, few dealers took immediate interest in Kusama in the late 1950s.  Among them was Beatrice Perry, the owner of the Gres Gallery, and former owner of the present work, who developed a close relationship with Kusama and in 1960 gave her one of her initial solo shows in the United States.  Perry's choice to favor an international abstract painter was at the time very progressive and prescient. As Kusama's career began to catch hold in New York, her circle of supporters grew and she inspired other artists who were involved in Minimalism and Post-Minimalism. While she professed to work like a machine upon her canvases, as an antidote to the expressionism of many peers, Kusama also provided more sensual and organic serial repetitions that departed from Minimalism's industrial aesthetic.