Fireflies

Medium: Screen-print in colors on Verin d’Arches paper
[14 screens, 14 colors, 14 runs]
Year: 1999
Image: 59.7 x 47.7 cm (23.5 x 18.8 inches)
Sheet: 76.3 x 56.8 cm (30 x 22.3 inches)
Edition: 100
Artist’s Proofs: 10 AP
Printer’s Proofs: 5 PP
Printer: Okabe Tokuzo, Japan
Literature: ABE 250
Yayoi Kusama Prints 1979-2017, ABE PUBLISHING LTD, Number 250, illustrated page 148

Signed, dated, and numbered in pencil on lower edge

Fireflies encapsulates Yayoi Kusama’s core themes of infinity and self-obliteration through the graphic language of repetition and dots. This print is distinct from the later large-scale immersive installation pieces (like Fireflies on the Water, 2002), but explores the same conceptual ideas in a two-dimensional format. It uses Kusama’s signature graphic language of repeating patterns to depict the flickering presence of fireflies. The composition likely transforms the delicate, transient natural creatures into an abstract, patterned field, using dots or small forms as metaphors for both the microscopic and the cosmic.

Fireflies explores several intertwined philosophical and psychological concepts central to Kusama’s oeuvre. The repetitive dots and patterns create a visual sense of endlessness, reflecting Kusama’s belief that “Polka dots are a way to infinity”. Fireflies are delicate and fleeting creatures, symbolizing the transient beauty of nature and life itself. A key theme in all of Kusama’s work is the yearning to transcend the individual ego and dissolve the boundaries between the self and the universe. The multitude of “fireflies” in the print suggests the individual becoming one with a boundless, shimmering expanse. Fireflies is rooted in Kusama’s lifelong experiences with hallucinations, where she would see her visual field overwhelmed by dots and patterns. Art became a way for her to externalize and control these overwhelming perceptions.

Fireflies was released in 1999 as an editioned work, allowing a wider audience to access themes also explored in Kusama’s unique paintings and sculptures. By this time, Kusama had long been a prominent figure in the avant-garde art scene since her rise in New York in the 1960s, and her work had seen a resurgence in international recognition throughout the late 1980s and 1990s. This period saw her refine screenprinting techniques to produce works combining her signature dots with bold colors, making subjects like fireflies into timeless symbols within her established visual vocabulary. The print predates the iconic immersive installation Fireflies on the Water (2002), which further developed these themes using mirrors, water, and LED lights.

Fireflies on Water is a mesmerizing installation by Yayoi Kusama that immerses viewers in a reflective, infinite space filled with lights and water, creating a serene and hallucinatory experience. Fireflies on Water created in 2002, is a room-sized installation designed for individual viewing. The space is lined with mirrors on all sides, featuring a central pool of water and 150 small lights suspended from the ceiling. This setup creates a stunning visual effect, where the reflections from the mirrors and the water combine to give the illusion of an infinite space, devoid of clear boundaries.

Auction Results

SBI Art Auction: 27 January 2024
Estimated: JPY 1,000,000 – 1,500,000
JPY 1,782,500 / USD 12,030

YAYOI KUSAMA
Fireflies (Kusama 250), 1999
Screenprint
Signed, titled, dated and numbered from the edition of 100

Phillips New-York: 24 October 2023
Estimated: USD 10,000 – 15,000
USD 30,480

K Auction Seoul: 26 January 2023
Estimated: KRW 22,000,000 – 50,000,000
KRW 25,300,000 / USD 19,860

YAYOI KUSAMA
Fireflies, 1999
Screenprint
Signed, titled, dated and numbered on the front

SBI Art Auction: 29 January 2022
Estimated: JPY 1,000,000 – 1,500,000
JPY 3,680,000 / USD 31,930
AUCTION RECORD FOR FIREFLIES

YAYOI KUSAMA
Fireflies (Kusama 250), 1999
Screenprint
Signed, titled, dated and numbered from the edition of 100

SBI Art Auction: 30 October 2021
Estimated: JPY 1,200,000 – 1,800,000
JPY 1,782,500 / USD 15,640

YAYOI KUSAMA
Fireflies (Kusama 250), 1999
Screenprint
Signed, titled, dated and numbered
From the edition of 100

Mainichi Auction: 3 September 2021
Estimated: JPY 1,000,000 – 1,500,000
JPY 2,200,000 / USD 20,065

YAYOI KUSAMA
Fireflies, 1999
Screenprint
Signed
From the edition of 100