Yayoi Kusama // Untitled, 1970 (gouache and mixed media on paperboard)

  • Yayoi Kusama, Untitled, circa 1970. Gouache and mixed media on paperboard, 80.6 × 53 cm. Signed Kusama. Transitional work reflecting Kusama’s shift from New York avant-garde to introspective practice in Japan.
    Untitled, 1970
    Gouache and mixed media on paperboard, 80.6 × 53 cm (31 3/4 × 20 7/8 in.)
    © Yayoi Kusama. Image reproduced for educational and informational purposes only. 

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    Executed around 1970, this Untitled work reflects Yayoi Kusama’s evolving artistic direction during a transitional period in her career. Having made her name through large-scale happenings and immersive installations in New York, she began to turn toward more intimate formats and mixed media approaches.

     

    The layered application of gouache and other materials conveys both immediacy and texture, revealing a more introspective dimension to her practice. These qualities anticipate the psychologically charged works that emerged in her later years, demonstrating how Kusama adapted her signature language of repetition and surface into new, personal modes of expression.

  • “I wanted to start a revolution, using art to build the sort of society I myself envisioned.” 
    – Yayoi Kusama
    Created shortly before her return to Japan, the piece reflects a shift from outward-facing avant-garde performance to a more inward, contemplative studio practice. This transitional period laid the groundwork for her mature style and the enduring motifs that would continue to shape her art.