
Collection Online as of December 2, 2023
(Japanese, 1929-)
Black chalk and green monotype with blue gouache
Support: Red wove paper
Sheet: 33.9 x 32.2 cm (13 3/8 x 12 11/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1999.250
not on view
Kusama is known for her obsessive paintings and sculptures of repeated forms, but this earlier work develops a theme she explored at the beginning of her career, around the time she first exhibited her work in Tokyo. Using red paper, she drew luminous ovoid and round objects that evoke glowing planetary bodies. Here she employed a combination of techniques, including green monotype (meaning she applied the green pigment to another surface and then transferred it to the paper), which she then filled in with blue gouache (opaque watercolor).