Pumpkin (Yellow T)
Medium: Screen-print in colors on Verin d’Arches paper
[2 screens, 2 colors, 2 runs]
Year: 1992
Image: 72.3 x 60.4 cm (28.5 x 23.8 inches)
Sheet: 84×71 cm (33.1 x 28 inches)
Edition: 120
Artist’s Proofs: 12 AP
Printer’s Proofs: 4 PP
Printer: Okabe Tokuzo, Tokyo
Literature: ABE 147
Yayoi Kusama Prints 1979-2017, ABE Publishing Ltd., Number 147, illustrated page 97
Signed, dated, and numbered in pencil on lower edge
Pumpkin (Yellow T) features Yayoi Kusama’s signature motifs of a yellow pumpkin covered in black polka dots set against an intricate net-patterned background, embodying themes of comfort, stability, and the artist’s personal struggle with mental illness.
Pumpkin (Yellow T) belongs to a phase in which Yayoi Kusama’s imagery is fully distilled, both formally and conceptually. The composition is reduced to its essentials: a single pumpkin, centrally placed, set against a dense background of interlocking net-like lines. The image is immediately legible, yet its construction reveals a careful balance between repetition and structure. Color is handled with restraint and purpose. The pumpkin is rendered in yellow and black, a combination Kusama repeatedly returns to during this period. Yellow establishes luminosity and warmth, while black provides contrast and visual anchoring. The surface of the pumpkin is articulated by polka dots that shift gradually in scale, following the vertical lobes of the form and suggesting volume through pattern rather than shading. The background, composed of a continuous yellow net drawn over black, introduces a sense of extension beyond the limits of the pumpkin. This surrounding field remains active and uninterrupted, while the pumpkin retains a clearly defined outline. The dialogue between the contained form and the expansive background reflects a recurring concern in Kusama’s work: the coexistence of stability and continuity within a single visual system.
To Kusama, the pumpkin is a motif of comfort, stability, and modesty. Unlike some of the other hallucinations (flashes of light, fields of flowers) that frightened her as a child, she found the “charming and winsome form” of pumpkins to be a source of calm and rootedness. Kusama uses the repetitive depiction of the pumpkin to cope with her lifelong psychological struggles and hallucinations, transforming her fears and anxieties into art. The pumpkin motif is often viewed as a form of self-portraiture for Kusama, its whimsical yet sturdy form mirroring her own resilience and vulnerability. The signature polka dots and net patterns, which cover the pumpkin and the background, represent her desire for “self-obliteration”: the dissolution of the individual self into the infinite universe. The dots can be seen as cells or planets, elements within an endless cosmos. In Japanese culture, the kabocha (pumpkin) is associated with good luck, substance, and nourishment, adding a layer of positive energy and abundance to the work.
The auction record for Pumpkin (Yellow T) was set at Seoul Auction on 26 October 2021 when it sold for KRW 178,250,000 (USD 152,935).
Seoul Auction: 26 October 2021
Estimated: KRW 120,000,000 – 180,000,000
KRW 178,250,000 / USD 152,935
AUCTION RECORD FOR PUMPKIN (YELLOW T)
YAYOI KUSAMA
Pumpkin (Yellow T), 1992
Screenprint
Signed, dated, titled and numbered 42/120 on the recto
Edition: 42/120 (plus 12 artist’s proofs, 4 printer’s proofs)
Auction Results
K Auction Seoul: 26 November 2025
Estimated: KRW 110,000,000 – 180,000,000
KRW 138,000,000 / USD 94,115
YAYOI KUSAMA (b. 1929)
Pumpkin (Yellow T) (Abe 147), 1992
Screenprint
Edition: 58/120
Signed, titled, dated and numbered on the front
K Auction Seoul: 25 June 2025
Estimated: KRW 80,000,000 – 180,000,000
KRW 147,200,000 / USD 108,635
YAYOI KUSAMA
Pumpkin (Yellow T) (Kusama 147), 1992
Screenprint
Signed, titled, dated and numbered 34/120 to the front
Mainichi Auction: 21 March 2025
Estimated: JPY 5,000,000 – 7,000,000
JPY 9,200,000 / USD 61,800
YAYOI KUSAMA
Pumpkin (Yellow T), 1992
Screenprint
Signed
From the edition of 120
Mainichi Auction: 19 October 2024
Estimated: JPY 6,000,000 – 8,000,000
JPY 9,200,000 / USD 61,530
YAYOI KUSAMA
Pumpkin (Yellow T), 1992
Screenprint
Signed
From the edition of 120
Est-Ouest Auctions Hong-Kong: 28 May 2023
Estimated: USD 75,000 – 100,000
USD 100,800
YAYOI KUSAMA
PUMPKIN (YELLOW T), 1992
Screenprint
Signed, titled, dated and numbered on the margin
Est-Ouest Auctions Tokyo: 24 September 2022
Estimated: JPY 9,000,000 – 14,000,000
JPY 15,125,000 / USD 105,510
YAYOI KUSAMA
PUMPKIN (YELLOW T), 1992
Screenprint
Signed, titled, dated and numbered on the margin
SBI Art Auction: 29 January 2022
Estimated: JPY 4,000,000 – 7,000,000
JPY 13,800,000 / USD 119,735
YAYOI KUSAMA
Pumpkin (Yellow T) (Kusama 147）, 1992
Screenprint
Signed, titled, dated and numbered from the edition of 120
Seoul Auction: 26 October 2021
Estimated: KRW 120,000,000 – 180,000,000
KRW 178,250,000 / USD 152,935
AUCTION RECORD FOR PUMPKIN (YELLOW T)
YAYOI KUSAMA
Pumpkin (Yellow T), 1992
Screenprint
Signed, dated, titled and numbered 42/120 on the recto
Edition: 42/120 (plus 12 artist’s proofs, 4 printer’s proofs)
Mainichi Auction: 9 April 2021
Estimated: JPY 3,000,000 – 4,000,000
JPY 6,800,000 (Hammer)
JPY 7,922,000 / USD 72,260
YAYOI KUSAMA
Pumpkin (Yellow T), 1992
Screenprint
Signed
From the edition of 120