The Infinity Painting That Set Yayoi Kusama's Auction Record

Yayoi Kusama's Untitled (Nets) (1959) sold for $10.5m at Phillips New York on May 18, 2022. The oil on canvas work had been traded 4 times in the past.

Kusama arrived in New York from Japan in 1958, determined to make her mark, which she soon did among fellow artists painting obsessive canvases in grey and white. Her white Infinity Net paintings impressed her peers with their originality and importance, not least Donald Judd, who became an early cheerleader and collector.

Kusama's 1960s erotic "happenings" also raised eyebrows in New York and across Europe.

Another admirer, the German Minimalist Gunther Uecker acquired his classic early Kusama work, Untitled (Nets), in 1960 when the two artists traded pieces. Both took part in a landmark show that year, "Monochrome Malerei", organized by the Städtisches Museum Schloss Morsbroich in Leverkusen, Germany.

Two years later, Kusama became the only female artist to have works in a ZERO international group show at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam alongside Uecker.

The sale beat Kusama’s previous auction record by $2.48m, a 30% rise. Her previous record was set by Pumpkin (LPASG) (2013), which sold for $8.02m at Christie's on December 1, 2021. The work had been traded 3 times in the past.

A Brief History of Kusama at Auction