Pumpkin ST

Medium: Screenprint in colors on Verin d’Arches paper
[3 screens, 2 colors, 3 runs]
Year: 2001
Image: 25.5 x 22 cm (10 x 8.7 inches)
Sheet: 38 x 32.5 cm  (15 x 12.8 inches)
Edition: 120
Artist’s Proofs: 12 AP
Printer’s Proofs: 5 PP
Printer: Okabe Tokuzo, Tokyo
Literature: ABE 301
Yayoi Kusama Prints 1979-2007, ABE PUBLISHING LTD, Number 301, illustrated page 176

Signed, titled, numbered, and dated in pencil

Exploding with electric energy, Yayoi Kusama reimagines the traditional still life genre, rendering the humble pumpkin both playful and hypnotic. Pumpkin (ST) is brought to life through the striking juxtaposition of Kusama’s unmistakable black–yellow combination. Characteristically fitting with the artist’s eccentric personality, the print is a symbol of organised chaos. Patterns collide as the print integrates all three of Kusama’s signature motifs: the polka dots, the infinity nets, and the pumpkin itself.

“Pumpkins have been a great comfort to me since my childhood. They speak to me of the joy of living. They are humble and amusing at the same time, and I have and always will celebrate them in my art.”

In Pumpkin (ST), Kusama organizes her polka dots into vertical segmented forms, creating a rhythmic visual oscillation. Dots appear to shift in size before our eyes, growing out of the paper and embracing illusion – just as Kusama has in her infinity rooms. For Kusama, dots symbolize the obliteration of the self and the vast cosmos, whereas the mesh–like infinity nets that compromise the bed of tessellating geometric triangles which the pumpkin rests on, represent the interconnectedness of life. Combined with her dots, the composition becomes a repetitive meditation, a therapeutic relief which allows the artist to combat anxiety.

The pumpkin has preoccupied Kusama since her childhood in Japan, stemming from her family’s nursery business and her early experiences of hallucinations – specifically a pumpkin which spoke to her younger self from a vine. However, where some of Kusama’s visions are terrifying, Kusama’s fascination with the fruit is drawn from its “humorous form” and the “warm feelings” it evokes. Kusama frequently recalls the “human–like” essence of pumpkins, offering each print its own personality, individually personified. Kusama exaggerates the postures of the pumpkins, ranging from slumping to proud, large or diminutive.

Since 1970 Kusama has reimagined her beloved motif in various mediums and scales, celebrating their “unpretentious and simple beauty”; from its first 1946 rendition in the traditional Japanese Nihonga style, to the monumental black and yellow sculptures which have stood on Naoshima Island, Japan, and in Kensington Gardens, London. By continuing her exploration of self–obliteration through her pumpkins, the artist continues her creation of what she calls “Kusama world” – a unique, immersive artistic universe, characterized by her obsessive polka dots, infinity rooms, and, most importantly, pumpkins.

Auction Results

SBI Art Auction: 24 January 2026
Estimated: JPY 3,000,000 – 5,000,000
JPY 5,750,000 / USD 37,120

YAYOI KUSAMA
Pumkin ST (Kusama 301), 2001
Screenprint
Signed, titled, dated and numbered
From the edition of 120
Printed by Okabe Tokuzo

Mainichi Auction: 13 December 2025
Estimated: JPY 2,500,000 – 3,500,000
JPY 5,750,000 / USD 36,905

YAYOI KUSAMA
Pumpkin ST (ABE 301), 2001
Screenprint
Signed
From the edition of 120

Christie’s London: 30 September 2025
Estimated: GBP 18,000 – 25,000
GBP 30,480 / USD 40,950

YAYOI KUSAMA (B. 1929)
Pumpkin ST (ABE 301), 2001
Screenprint in colors on wove paper
Signed, dated, titled in Japanese and numbered 8/120 in pencil
(there were also 12 artist’s proofs)

Phillips Hong-Kong: 28 March 2025
Estimated: HKD 200,000 – 320,000
HKD 444,500 / USD 57,135

SBI Art Auction: 27 May 2023
Estimated: JPY 3,500,000 – 5,500,000
JPY 8,050,000 / USD 57,500
AUCTION RECORD FOR PUMPKIN ST

YAYOI KUSAMA
Pumkin ST (Kusama 301). 2001
Screenprint
Signed, titled, dated and numbered
From the edition of 120

SBI Art Auction: 27 May 2022
Estimated: JPY 2,500,000 – 3,500,000
JPY 6,210,000 / USD 48,885

YAYOI KUSAMA
Pumkin ST (Kusama 301). 2001
Screenprint
Signed, titled, dated and numbered
From the edition of 120

33 Auction Singapore: 21 December 2020
Estimated: SGD 18,000 – 25,000
SGD 41,400 / USD 31,095

YAYOI KUSAMA
Pumkin ST. 2001
Screenprint on paper
Signed, titled, dated and numbered 83/120 below the image