Hello !

Medium: Screen-print in colors on Izumi paper
[17 screens, 16 colors, 17 runs]
Year: 1989
Image: 45.4 x 52.8 cm (17.9 x 20.8 inches)
Sheet: 53.5 x 61 cm (21.1 x 24 inches)
Edition: 100
Artist’s Proofs: 8 AP
Printer’s Proofs: 3 PP
Printer: Ishida Ryoichi, Tokyo
Literature: ABE 131
Yayoi Kusama Prints 1979-2017, ABE PUBLISHING LTD, Number 131, Illustrated page 87

Signed, dated, and numbered in pencil on lower edge

Created in 1989, Hello! belongs to a period in which Yayoi Kusama’s printmaking combines structured repetition with narrative and symbolic elements. While pumpkins and flowers often appear in isolation in her work, this composition brings together multiple motifs within a carefully organized pictorial space, giving the image a distinctly story-like quality. Color plays a central role in this print. A dominant yellow pumpkin, densely covered with black polka dots, occupies the center of the composition, immediately asserting its presence. Around it, Kusama introduces a broader palette: deep reds forming a cracked, net-like ground; greens and blues shaping secondary pumpkins; and purples, pinks, and blues animating the flowers that rise upward. Unlike her more monochrome pumpkin prints, often limited to yellow or red, Hello! stands out for its deliberate use of contrasting and complementary colors, each zone clearly defined yet visually interconnected.

The surface is constructed through screenprinting, allowing for sharp contours and even color saturation. Polka dots vary in scale and density, guiding the eye across the forms and reinforcing Kusama’s interest in repetition as a structuring principle rather than a purely decorative one. The recurring net pattern, visible in the background, introduces a sense of continuity that contrasts with the solidity of the pumpkins.

Within the central pumpkin, a small window reveals a stylized female figure, an element that introduces a subtle autobiographical and psychological dimension. This insertion transforms the pumpkin from a simple object into an interior space, suggesting containment, shelter, and observation. In Hello!, Kusama balances playfulness with control, using color, pattern, and motif to create a composition that is accessible in imagery while remaining closely aligned with the core concerns of her practice.

Auction Results

Mainichi Auction: 13 December 2025
Estimated: JPY 2,500,000 – 3,500,000
JPY 4,600,000 / USD 29,525

YAYOI KUSAMA
Hello (ABE 131), 1989
Screenprint
Signed
From the edition of 100

Mainichi Auction: 18 October 2025
Estimated: JPY 2,500,000 – 3,500,000
JPY 5,520,000 / USD 36,660

YAYOI KUSAMA
Hello!, 1989
ABE publishing (2017) No.131
Screenprint
Signed in the lower right margin
Dated in the lower center margin
Titled and ed.100 in the lower left margin

SBI Art Auction: 12 April 2024
Estimated: JPY 4,000,000 – 7,000,000
JPY 8,050,000 / USD 52,522

YAYOI KUSAMA
Hello! (Kusama 131), 1989
Screenprint
Signed, titled, dated and numbered from the edition of 100

Est-Ouest Hong-Kong: 28 May 2023
Estimated: USD 37,000 – 52,000
USD 44,100

YAYOI KUSAMA
HELLO!, 1989
Screenprint
Signed, titled, dated and numbered on the margin

Mainichi Auction: 17 October 2020
Estimated: JPY 2,000,000 – 3,000,000
JPY 3,000,000 (Hammer)
JPY 3,495,000 / USD 33,160

YAYOI KUSAMA
Hello!, 1989
Screenprint
Signed
Edition: 83/100

SBI Art Auction: 20 June 2020
Estimated: JPY 2,500,000 – 3,500,000
JPY 3,680,000 / USD 34,445

YAYOI KUSAMA
Hello! (Kusama 131), 1989
Screenprint
Signed, titled, dated and numbered from the edition of 100

Mainichi Auction: 25 January 2020
Estimated: JPY 2,500,000 – 3,500,000
JPY 3,530,000 / USD 32,300

YAYOI KUSAMA
Hello!, 1989
Screenprint
Signed
Edition: 44/100

Phillips London: 23 January 2020
Estimated: GBP 15,000 – 20,000
GBP 37,500 / USD 49,130