Introduction
The Fruit Basket portfolio presents a combination of two signature forms for Yayoi Kusama: nets and dots. With the love for pumpkins and fruits, those prints project the artist’s essence on a small but intimate scale. Utilizing an intricate geometric arrangement that sets as the background, Fruit Basket further advocates Kusama’s strong understanding between perspective, space and composition. The early hallucinations experienced by Kusama has given her an abundancy of inspirations in her creations. Nets and dots similar to dissections of plants could be seen through the artist’s widespread career, injecting a source of mystery and life into the rhythmic objects in her paintings, the act of painting enabled the artist to overcome the vehemence of her psychological traumas. The circular transformations of large dots to small dots transforms the three-dimensional object, focusing deeply on the structural relationship between shape and line. S
Like the post-impressionist Paul Cezanne, Kusama utilizes still objects as a means to explore the relationship between form, space and color. Both Kusama’s and Cezanne’s works introduced new understandings of still life, shattered the conventions of traditional representation and paved the way for a more subjective and individualized approach to depicting the world around us. As for Kusama, she explores new avenues for traditional art, specifically nihonga, which resulted in an unparalleled and innovative perspective on still life. Through her meticulous application of brushstrokes, a sense of depth and dimension are established on the canvas. Kusama painterly skill with nets and dots, combined with her self-obliteration concept, adding another layer to her works—evoking a sense of infinity and transcendence.
Fruit Basket (1)-(5), 1999
Fruit Basket (1)-(5)
Medium: Screenprint in colors on Kakita-shi paper with Lame
[4 screens, 4 colors, 5 runs]
Year: 1999
Image: 45×54 cm (17.7 x 21.3 inches)
Sheet: 60×68 cm (23.6 x 26.8 inches)
Edition: 60
Artist’s Proofs: 6 AP
Printer’s Proofs: 5 PP
Printer: Okabe Tokuzo, Tokyo
Literature: ABE 273-277
Yayoi Kusama Prints 1979-2017, ABE PUBLISHING LTD, Numbers 273 to 277, illustrated pages 162-164
Signed, dated, and numbered in pencil on lower edge
1. Fruit Basket (1) (ABE 273)
2. Fruit Basket (2) (ABE 274)
3. Fruit Basket (3) (ABE 275)
4. Fruit Basket (4) (ABE 276)
5. Fruit Basket (5) (ABE 277)
Fruit Basket (1) (ABE 273)
Seoul Auction: 30 April 2020
Estimated: KRW 15,000,000 – 30,000,000
KRW 17,250,000 / USD 14,150
YAYOI KUSAMA
Fruit Basket (1), 1999
Screen-print and lame
Signed, titled in Japanese, dated 1999 and numbered 17/60 on the recto
Fruit Basket (2) (ABE 274)
Seoul Auction: 29 August 2023
Estimated: KRW 34,000,000 – 70,000,000
KRW 40,120,000 / USD 30,290
YAYOI KUSAMA (b. 1929)
Fruit Basket (2), 1999
Screen-print and lame
Signed, titled in Japanese, dated 1999 and numbered on the recto
SBI Art Auction: 2 April 2021
Estimated: JPY 1,800,000 – 2,800,000
JPY 3,450,000 / USD 31,165
YAYOI KUSAMA
Fruit Basket (2) (Kusama 274), 1999
Screenprint, lamé
Signed, titled, dated and numbered
A Printer’s Proof aside from the edition of 60
Sotheby’s Hong-Kong: 7 October 2020
Estimated: HKD 80,000 – 150,000
HKD 327,600 / USD 42,270
YAYOI KUSAMA (b. 1929)
FRUIT BASKET (2), 1999
Screen-print
Signed in English, titled in Japanese, dated 1999 and numbered p.p.
Fruit Basket (3) (ABE 275)
Phillips Hong-Kong: 12 December 2024
Estimated: HKD 100,000 – 200,000
HKD 190,500 / USD 24,500
YAYOI KUSAMA
Fruit Basket (3) (K. 275), 1999
Screenprint in colours with lamé on Kakita-shi paper
Signed, titled in Japanese, dated and annotated ‘P.P.’ in pencil
One of 5 printer’s proofs, the edition was 60 and 6 artist’s proofs
Est-Ouest Auctions Tokyo: 24 September 2022
Estimated: JPY 2,500,000 – 3,500,000
JPY 4,840,000 / USD 34,025
YAYOI KUSAMA (b. 1929)
Fruit Basket (3), 1999
Screen-print and lame
Signed, dated, titled and numbered on the margin
SBI Art Auction: 30 October 2021
Estimated: JPY 2,500,000 – 3,500,000
JPY 4,600,000 / USD 40,345
YAYOI KUSAMA
Fruit Basket (3) (Kusama 275), 1999
Screenprint, lamé
Signed, titled, dated and numbered
From the edition of 60
Fruit Basket (4) (ABE 276)
Estimated: HKD 120,000 – 180,000
YAYOI KUSAMA
Fruit Basket (4) (K. 276), 1999
Screenprint in colours with lamé on Kakita-shi paper
Signed, titled in Japanese, dated and numbered 16/60 in pencil
(there were also 6 artist’s proofs)
K Auction Seoul: 25 May 2022
Estimated: KRW 35,000,000 – 70,000,000
KRW 50,600,000 / USD 40,125
YAYOI KUSAMA (b. 1929)
Fruit Basket (4), 1999
Screen-print and lame
Signed, titled, dated and numbered on the front
Mainichi Auction: 10 December 2021
Estimated: JPY 2,000,000 – 3,000,000
JPY 3,400,000 (Hammer)
JPY 3,961,000 / USD 34,940
YAYOI KUSAMA (b. 1929)
Fruit Basket (4), 1999
Screen-print and lame
Signed, from the edition of 60
Fruit Basket (5) (ABE 277)
Estimated: KRW 27,000,000 – 70,000,000
KRW 43,700,000 / USD 31,770
Screenprint, lame
Signed, titled, dated and numbered 37/60 on the front
Ravenel Taipei: 4 December 2021
Estimated: TWD 700,000 – 1,000,000
TWD 1,020,000 / USD 36,800
YAYOI KUSAMA (b. 1929)
Fruit Basket (5), 1999
Screen-print and lame
Signed lower right Yayoi Kusama
Titled lower center Fruit in Kanji and Basket in Japanese, Fruit Basket in English
Dated 1999 and numbered 29/60 lower left
SBI Art Auction: 30 October 2021
Estimated: JPY 2,500,000 – 3,500,000
JPY 3,450,000 / USD 30,260
YAYOI KUSAMA
Fruit Basket (5) (Kusama 277), 1999
Screenprint, lamé
Signed, titled, dated and numbered
A Printer’s Proof aside from the edition of 60
Seoul Auction: 22 June 2021
Estimated: KRW 25,000,000 – 50,000,000
KRW 43,700,000 / USD 38,545
YAYOI KUSAMA (b. 1929)
Fruit Basket (5), 1999
Screen-print and lame
Signed, dated, titled and numbered