Yayoi Kusama // The Sea, 1952

  • Yayoi Kusama, The Sea, 1952. Ink on paper, 47 × 36.5 cm. Blue ground with black linear forms, signed, dated, and titled in Japanese on the reverse.
    The Sea, 1952
    Ink on paper, 47 × 36.5 cm (18½ × 14 3/8 in.)
    © Yayoi Kusama. All rights reserved. Image reproduced for educational and informational purposes only. 

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    Painted in 1952, The Sea is an early work by Yayoi Kusama, created when the artist was 23 years old. Executed in ink on paper, the composition features a vivid blue ground animated by dynamic black lines.
     
    Produced during her formative years in postwar Japan, the drawing reveals Kusama’s growing fascination with repetition, rhythm, and the transformation of natural subjects into near-abstract forms. This piece anticipates the signature qualities that would later define her practice, from her Infinity Nets to her explorations of psychological space.

  • "I translate the hallucinations and obsessional images that plague me into sculptures and paintings. All my works have their roots in this.”

    – Yayoi Kusama

    The title, inscribed in Japanese on the reverse, evokes a direct link to nature, yet the composition abstracts the idea of the sea into pattern and gesture. Layers of blue ink provide depth and atmosphere, while black lines unfurl across the surface in rhythmic waves, suggesting both organic movement and controlled structure. The restricted palette emphasises Kusama’s mark-making, offering an early glimpse of her ability to distil natural phenomena into obsessive, infinite patterns. Signed and dated on both sides, the drawing exemplifies Kusama’s precision and her commitment to preserving her authorship at every stage of her career.