Red Nets No. 19, 1960
Oil on canvas
76.2×60.9 cm (30×24 inches)
Signed, titled and dated ‘1960 YAYOI KUSAMA RED NETS NO. 19’ (on the reverse)

 

Provenance
Private collection, New York, acquired from the artist by the present owner, circa 1960s

 

Christie’s New-York: 18 September 2012
USD 1,022,500

Source: Christie’s
Yayoi Kusama (b. 1929) (christies.com)

 

The delicate veil of painted swoops and swirls that sweep across the surface of Red Nets, No. 19 are an early example of Yayoi Kusama’s iconic Infinity Net paintings that helped to launch her career as one of the leading artists of the Post-War period. Given directly to the present owner by the artist, Red Nets, No. 19 comprises of a series of short, red scalloped brush stokes that are repeated almost ad infinitum across the surface of the canvas, resulting in a near hypnotic effect as we are pulled into the folds of the composition.

Against a dark background, Kusama would begin applying the painted loops in the top left corner of the canvas. Working very close to the surface, she would apply the brushstrokes without any sense of formal composition. The patterns produced often only revealed themselves after she stood back from the painting. Because she worked so intently, the integrity of the individual loops would change over time as her brushes ran dry of paint, allowing the darker under layer to reveal itself through the thinner layers of red paint placed on top. This results in a surface which is rich in both visual and textural variety, and a surface in which the artist’s technical skill and physical and mental stamina are very much on display.