The Pacific Ocean, 1959
Oil and mixed media on canvas
46.4×35.6 cm (18.3×14 inches)
Signed lower left; signed, titled, and dated 1959 on the reverse

 

Provenance
Beatrice Perry, New York (acquired directly from the artist in 1959)
Thence by descent to the present owner

 

Sotheby’s New-York: 16 May 2019
USD 3,500,000

Source: Sotheby’s
(#30) YAYOI KUSAMA | The Pacific Ocean (sothebys.com)

 

 

A stirring testament to Yayoi Kusama’s captivating mastery of spatial abstraction, The Pacific Ocean is unquestionably a pivotal exemplar of the artist’s revered oeuvre, one of the first red Infinity Nets, if not the very first. Executed in 1959, the year following Kusama’s emigration from Japan to New York, this painting represents the groundbreaking genesis of the Infinity Nets, Kusama’s largest and most celebrated body of work. Displaying an intricately complex pattern of delicately undulating scarlet forms, The Pacific Ocean directly alludes to the conceptual origin of the series, which Kusama has revealed lies in the infinite expanse of the Pacific Ocean, glimpsed through her airplane window upon her arrival in the United States. Amongst the only examples to embody this intimate experience in both composition and title, the shimmering crimson surface of The Pacific Ocean represents an entirely unprecedented revelation into the conceptual and creative origins of one of the most iconic figures of Contemporary art.

Further testifying to the significance of the present work, The Pacific Ocean was acquired by Beatrice Perry, Kusama’s first and most formative art dealer, directly following its execution; a key advocate for Kusama during those critical early years, even petitioning for the artist’s immigration visa, Perry played a pivotal role in nurturing and encouraging the genesis of Kusama’s groundbreaking artistic practice. While examples from the esteemed handful of early Infinity Nets executed in 1959 and 1960 are held in such renowned museum collections as the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago, among other pre-eminent institutions, The Pacific Ocean has remained unseen by the public since entering the esteemed Perry family collection almost six decades ago. Exemplifying both the exquisite beauty and mesmerizing complexity which characterize the very best of the artist’s oeuvre, the present work marks a milestone moment within the legendary practice and celebrated output of Yayoi Kusama.

Below a translucent wash of iridescent crimson hue, Kusama’s labyrinthine web of undulating loops pulsates with irrepressible force, drawing the viewer irresistibly towards the shimmering spaces contained within the tightly woven skeins of inky pigment. Painted in the year following the artist’s arrival in New York, the crimson depths of The Pacific Ocean serve as stirring evocation of the intense passion, tremendous hardship, and remarkable creative vision which marked the first years of her practice in the United States. When Kusama first landed in New York in June of 1958, knowing no one and speaking little English, she discovered that, “New York was in every way a fierce and violent place.” Despite the challenges and obstacles which faced the artist, Kusama strove to make her way in her harrowing new environs, slowly forging connections and garnering recognition within the burgeoning downtown art scene of New York City. One of her earliest patrons was art dealer Beatrice Perry, co-owner of Gres Gallery in Washington, D.C. and only owner of the present work, who organized a show of the artist’s early Infinity Nets in 1960. Within the rarified group of early Infinity Net paintings, The Pacific Ocean is distinguished as amongst the most personalized and explicit revelations of the origin of the iconic series. Remarking upon the basis for her acclaimed oeuvre, Kusama has revealed that the origin of the Infinity Nets lies in an earlier series of watercolors titled, like the present work, Pacific Ocean. Painted in 1958, the suite of smaller works was inspired by the infinite volumes of “shallow space” contained within the tiny wavelets of the Pacific Ocean, which Kusama glimpsed through her airplane window upon her emigration into the United States.