Yayoi Kusama // Pumpkin, 1989

  • Yayoi Kusama, Pumpkin, 1989. Acrylic on canvas, 38 × 45.5 cm. Depicts Kusama’s signature pumpkin motif with polka dots and vibrant colour, a central theme in her late 1980s practice.
    Pumpkin, 1989
    Acrylic on canvas, 38 × 45.5 cm (15 × 17 7/8 in.)
    © Yayoi Kusama. All rights reserved.
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    Yayoi Kusama’s Pumpkin (1989) is an acrylic on canvas measuring 38 × 45.5 cm, painted during a period when the motif was becoming central to her practice. The work presents the pumpkin in bold, graphic form, its surface animated by Kusama’s characteristic use of dots and rhythmic patterning.
     
    For Kusama, the pumpkin is both a personal emblem, tied to her childhood memories in rural Japan, and a symbol of comfort, endurance, and infinity. In this 1989 canvas, the motif is elevated beyond naturalistic representation, transformed into a hypnotic field of pattern and repetition. Its scale and clarity make it a powerful precursor to the monumental pumpkins that would dominate her later sculpture and installation work.

  • "Pumpkins bring about poetic peace in my mind.”

     — Yayoi Kusama

    As with many of her pumpkin paintings, Pumpkin (1989) balances whimsy with profound depth. The work reflects Kusama’s ability to merge personal memory with universal meaning, securing the pumpkin’s place as one of the most enduring icons of her career and of contemporary art as a whole.