Sunflowers

Medium: Screenprint in colors on Izumi paper
[11 screens, 10 colors, 11 runs]
Year: 1989
Image: 52.8 x 45.4 cm (20.8 x 17.9 inches)
Sheet: 53.5 x 61 cm (24 x 21.1 inches)
Edition: 100
Artist’s Proofs: 8 AP
Printer: Ishida Ryoichi, Tokyo
Literature: ABE 126
Yayoi Kusama Prints 1979-2017, ABE PUBLISHING LTD, Number 126, Illustrated page 83

Signed, dated, and numbered in pencil on lower edge

 

Sunflowers from 1989 belongs to an important phase in Yayoi Kusama’s graphic work, when floral imagery emerged alongside pumpkins as a central motif in her prints. During the late 1980s, Kusama increasingly used flowers as structured visual forms, allowing her to explore repetition, color, and surface with clarity and precision. The composition depicts two large stylized flowers set against a dark background animated by a network of blue, leaf-like lines. Each flower is constructed through concentric rings of polka dots, which define the centers and radiate outward into vividly colored petals. The dots vary in size and density, creating rhythm and depth while maintaining a flat, graphic surface. Surrounding leaves are outlined in bright green, their veins rendered as continuous linear patterns that echo Kusama’s broader interest in repetitive mark-making.

Color plays a central role in this work. The strong contrasts between red, pink, blue, yellow, and green give the image a dynamic visual impact while remaining carefully balanced. Rather than naturalistic depiction, the flowers are presented as symbolic and controlled forms. As in much of Kusama’s work, repetition functions as a method of organization, transforming organic motifs into structured visual systems.

This 1989 print reflects Kusama’s mature approach to printmaking before the large-scale institutional recognition of the 1990s and 2000s. It demonstrates how floral imagery allowed her to combine emotional intensity with formal discipline, using repetition and color to create a composition that is both visually engaging and rigorously constructed.

 

 

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Auction Results

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Sotheby’s Hong-Kong: 29 May 2025
Estimated: HKD 150,000 – 300,000
HKD 355,600 / USD 45,415

YAYOI KUSAMA (b. 1929)
Sunflowers (Kusama CR 126), 1989
Screenprint
Signed, dated 1989 and numbered 67/100 (lower edge)
This work is number 67 from an edition of 100, plus 8 artist’s proofs

SBI Art Auction: 14 September 2024
Estimated: JPY 2,000,000 – 3,000,000
JPY 4,715,000 / USD 33,317

YAYOI KUSAMA
Sunflowers (Kusama 126), 1989
Screenprint
Signed, dated, titled and numbered on the margin
Edition: 100 + 8 AP

Mainichi Auction: 9 June 2023
Estimated: JPY 2,000,000 – 3,000,000
JPY 2,990,000 / USD 21,455

YAYOI KUSAMA
Sunflowers, 2017
Screenprint
Signed
From the edition of 100

SBI Art Auction: 27 October 2018
Estimated: JPY 1,800,000 – 2,800,000
JPY 2,645,000 / USD 23,640

YAYOI KUSAMA
Sunflowers (Kusama 126), 1989
Screenprint
Signed, titled, dated and numbered from the edition of 100

SBI Art Auction: 27 October 2018
Estimated: JPY 1,800,000 – 2,800,000
JPY 2,645,000 / USD 23,650

YAYOI KUSAMA
Sunflowers (Kusama 126), 1989
Screenprint
Signed, titled, dated and numbered
From the edition of 100