Yayoi Kusama // Summer & Butterfly, 1989

  • Yayoi Kusama, Summer and Butterfly, 1989. Acrylic on canvas, 38 × 45.5 cm. A vivid composition combining Kusama’s butterfly motif with vibrant polka-dotted forms, reflecting her late 1980s exploration of nature and symbolism.
    Summer and Butterfly, 1989
    Acrylic on canvas, 38 × 45.5 cm (15 × 17 7/8 in.)
    © Yayoi Kusama. Image reproduced for educational and informational purposes only.
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    Yayoi Kusama’s Summer and Butterfly (1989) is an acrylic on canvas measuring 38 × 45.5 cm, painted during a period of renewed energy and recognition in her career. The work combines natural motifs with Kusama’s distinctive use of bold colour and pattern, presenting a butterfly in dialogue with its surrounding environment. The composition captures both the delicacy of the insect and the vibrancy of summer, filtered through Kusama’s obsessive and rhythmic visual language.
     
    The butterfly, a symbol of transformation and fragility, has appeared throughout Kusama’s work as an emblem of both beauty and psychological depth. In this painting, its presence is amplified by the intensity of pattern and repetition, turning a fleeting natural image into a universal reflection on change and continuity.
  • “I have always been interested in infinity, in the endless repetition of life.”
     — Yayoi Kusama
    As with many of her works from the late 1980s, Summer and Butterfly demonstrates Kusama’s ability to fuse personal symbolism with broader themes of infinity and renewal. The canvas reflects her enduring interest in nature as a metaphor for the cycles of life, while reaffirming her ability to transform the everyday into an image of both playfulness and profound meaning.