A $5 Million Yayoi Kusama Painting Leads Bonhams Hong Kong Sale

Infinity, a never-before-seen painting by Yayoi Kusama, is set to go to auction at Bonhams’ Modern and Contemporary Art sale in Hong Kong next week. The 1995 red-and-black painting comes with an estimate exceeding $5 million.

The painting is a rare instance of Kusama combining two of her signature motifs: dots and infinity nets. The composition is split in two, featuring black dots on a red background on the right and a black and red net on the left.

Bonhams described the work as “immersive and compelling…The endlessly looping and repeating whorls serve as a key motif reused throughout her career, reflecting both her personal history and inner state.”

Kusama's Market Dominance

According to a report released earlier this year, Kusama was the highest-selling contemporary artist in 2023, with her works earning $80.9 million at auction. This figure is more than $30 million higher than the previous year's top seller, David Hockney.

The most expensive Kusama piece sold last year was the 2024 painting A Flower, which fetched nearly $10 million at Christie’s Hong Kong. In April 2023, a group of five Kusama works, all produced within the last 20 years, sold for $22.9 million during a Sotheby’s evening sale, also in Hong Kong.

The Kusama Industrial Complex

Kusama’s popularity in the art market has surged in recent years, with her cultural influence being dubbed the "Kusama Industrial Complex." This rise has been bolstered by a 2023 retrospective at the M+ Museum and a highly publicized Louis Vuitton campaign.