Hat Left Behind In The Field © Yayoi Kusama 1981
Yayoi Kusama
282 works
Throughout her career, Yayoi Kusama has experienced both critical acclaim and commercial success. Her avant-garde artworks have been exhibited in prestigious institutions and galleries worldwide. Best known for her repetitive motifs of dots, nets, and psychedelic patterns, which she employs to explore themes of infinity, self-obliteration, and the interconnectedness of the universe. Her unique artistic vision and relentless exploration of these themes have earned her international recognition. If you're in the market to sell a Kusama print, here are a few things to consider.
How Much Do Yayoi Kusama Prints Sell For?
Kusama, the legendary Japanese contemporary artist known for her distinctive polka dot patterns and mesmerising installations, has gained immense popularity in recent years. With her unique artistic vision and a vast body of work, including prints, sculptures, and paintings, Kusama's prints have become highly sought after by art enthusiasts and collectors worldwide.
Limited edition prints by Kusama typically range in price from around £5,000 for her monochromatic, abstract works like Endless and Weeds, to £150,000 for her most iconic motifs - notably her Pumpkins. Currently, Kusama's Amour Pour Toujours portfolio holds the record price for all her prints and editions sales, after the collection of 10 prints achieved a hammer price of £268,137 at Phillips New York in 2021. Other high-performing series by Kusama include her Mt. Fuji prints, with collections commanding hammer prices of £228,512 (in 2019) and £200,520 (in 2021) at SBI Art Auction in Tokyo. As with all artists, the more iconic and significant the artwork, the higher the price tends to be. The edition size, rarity, condition, and desirability of a particular print can also significantly influence its value.
How Do You Authenticate a Yayoi Kusama Print?
Authenticating a Kusama print is a crucial step when buying or selling her artwork to ensure its legitimacy and value. As an artist with a prolific career spanning several decades, Kusama's work has been reproduced and imitated, making authentication an important consideration.
To authenticate a Kusama print, there are several key factors to consider. Firstly, it is essential to verify the print's provenance, which includes documenting its history of ownership, exhibition records, and any accompanying certificates of authenticity. These documents should provide a clear and traceable path of the artwork from the artist to the current owner. On Kusama's official website, you can register works which are recognised as being by the artist, which helps to verify the authenticity of all Kusama works circulating the market. It's important to note that authenticating a Kusama print can be a complex process that requires expertise and research. Working with knowledgeable professionals and relying on trusted sources will help ensure the legitimacy of the artwork.
Browse Yayoi Kusama prints on the Trading Floor and find out more about the print market growth on the MAB100 Print Index.
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Has Your Yayoi Kusama Print Been Kept In Good Condition?
Maintaining the condition of your Kusama print is vital in preserving its value and ensuring its longevity. Proper care and handling can significantly impact the print's aesthetic appeal and overall desirability in the art market. Assess how the print has been handled and stored over time. Ideally, prints should be stored in a controlled environment with stable temperature and humidity levels to prevent warping, mould, and other forms of deterioration. Improper handling, such as touching the surface with bare hands, can leave fingerprints or smudges.
Keeping a record of the print's history, including any past restoration or conservation work, is essential. Regular maintenance, such as cleaning with proper techniques and materials, can help preserve the print's condition. If in doubt about a print's condition, consider consulting a professional conservator or appraiser who specialises in works on paper. They can provide a comprehensive evaluation of the print's condition and offer recommendations for any necessary restoration or conservation work.
When Is the Best Time to Sell My Yayoi Kusama Print?
Determining the ideal time to sell a Kusama print requires careful consideration of various factors that influence the art market. While timing can never be guaranteed, there are key elements to evaluate that can aid you in your decision. Significant milestones or events related to Yayoi Kusama can impact the market for her prints. Look out for major exhibitions, retrospectives, or any noteworthy recognition received by the artist. These occasions often generate increased attention and can create a favourable selling environment.
Keep an eye on broader art market trends. If there is a growing interest in contemporary art, female artists, or the artistic movement associated with Kusama, it can create a favourable climate for selling her prints. While it is challenging to predict market fluctuations with certainty, a combination of market research, awareness of significant events, and consideration of personal factors will help you make an informed decision about the best time to sell your Kusama print.
Read our cohesive report to navigate the art market as a seller: A Guide to Selling Prints in the Current Market.
Where Can I Sell My Yayoi Kusama Print?
When it comes to selling your Kusama print, there are several avenues to consider. Each option has its own benefits and considerations, depending on your preferences and the specific print you wish to sell.
Selling a Yayoi Kusama Via a Broker
Choosing to sell through a broker is also a viable option. Collaborating with a broker offers a more personalised approach than an auction house, allowing for deeper engagement and dialogue. Brokers provide guidance and support at every step of the selling process, utilising their extensive experience in navigating art market dynamics. They usually have a well-established network of buyers and sellers, facilitating connections between your print and potential buyers.
Selling A Yayoi Kusama Via Auction House
The major auction houses—Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and Phillips—hold prestigious positions in the art market. For sellers, auction houses offer a theatrical setting, can elevate reserve prices above estimates, and have the resources to effectively market artworks to potential buyers. However, seller fees can be as high as 25% of the final sale proceeds. Additionally, auction houses operate on tight schedules and typically feature only one or two editions of the same print per auction, which can create a backlog and lengthy waiting periods for your print to be included in a sale, during which market values may fluctuate.
To learn more about selling avenues read our guide Auction v Private Sale in the Art Market
Selling a Yayoi Kusama Via Online Marketplace
Online marketplaces such as eBay and Etsy offer a convenient platform for directly selling artwork to buyers. However, selling on these platforms requires careful attention to listing descriptions, pricing, condition checks, and shipping logistics. It's important to be aware that eBay and Etsy carry a higher risk of encountering forgeries and scams, as they lack the rigorous verification processes and expertise of specialized art marketplaces or auctions. Therefore, when deciding the best time to sell your print, it's advisable to avoid marketplaces without a verified art market pedigree to ensure a smooth transaction. Additionally, selling on these platforms means independently managing the sale process and handling potential buyer negotiations.
Why Sell Your Yayoi Kusama with MyArtBroker
When it comes to selling your Kusama artwork, choosing the right platform or service is crucial for a successful and seamless experience. MyArtBroker offers unique advantages that make it an excellent option for selling your Kusama pieces.
A Dedicated Broker
MyArtBroker offers a unique service by connecting clients with dedicated personal brokers, ensuring secure transactions through our online platform. Our specialists excel at finding direct buyers for consigned prints via our live trading floor. Users within our network can express interest in specific prints and multiples by various artists, whether they intend to sell or buy. Our team is approachable, passionate, and provides regular updates on the art market and artists. We guide sellers through a seamless transaction process, offering fair market valuations and free advice on timing, leveraging our extensive market knowledge.
Meet our team of specialist brokers.
Minimise Risk
With a strong emphasis on enhancing transparency within the art market, MyArtBroker prioritises this aspect and ensures security throughout every art transaction. Our rigorous due diligence process guarantees the authentication and verification of artwork provenance, leveraging our in-house expertise and collaborating with external professionals as necessary. This approach significantly reduces the risk of dealing with counterfeit or stolen art. Additionally, we mitigate the risks associated with public auctions. While public sales may seem appealing, unsold prints can negatively impact an artist's market. Private sales eliminate this risk and offer faster liquidity for your artwork compared to adhering to rigid auction schedules dictating when your work can be sold.
0% Seller's Fees, 100% of the Time
Our team of specialists offers personalised services to procure rare and special edition prints, catering to both seasoned collectors and newcomers to the market. As part of our standard practice, we provide complimentary valuations and charge zero seller's fees, setting us apart from other private brokers and traditional auction houses. By minimising overhead costs, we allocate resources toward digital innovation and targeted marketing strategies within our network and house magazine.
When it comes to selling artwork, achieving the best price depends on accessing a niche market with an established collector community. If you're looking to sell a print, turning to a specialist in the print market, like MyArtBroker, yields superior results compared to approaching an auction house, which caters to broader categories of artwork.
Our Network
In the digital era, online marketplaces are becoming increasingly attractive options for buying and selling art, not only for their convenience but also for the sense of community they offer. Utilising our live trading floor, we empower our collector network, revolutionising art investment and trading in the digital age. By providing instantaneous market data and insights from global collectors, we determine value with a focus on convenience, accessibility, and unparalleled transparency and security for our vast user base, which spans tens of thousands.
Explore our Art & Tech Report to discover everything we've built to empower collectors.
Yayoi Kusama Collection Management with MyPortfolio
Beyond our live trading floor, MyArtBroker's MyPortfolio serves as a collection management tool, enabling collectors to curate and monitor their Kusama print collections while tracking their value in real-time. This feature provides access to our print market database, intricately linked to our proprietary algorithm, SingularityX. This algorithm meticulously evaluates public auction and private sales data to ascertain real-time valuations of individual prints, considering factors like condition, colour, and other elements influencing value.
Read What Powers MyArtBroker's Technology? In Conversation With Stuart Jamieson, Financial Quant to learn more about our algorithm.
In today's ever-evolving digital art market, emerging art tech tools play a crucial role. For example, integrating Kusama prints into the MyPortfolio dashboard on our website offers users invaluable insights into unique sales opportunities and real-time market performance, streamlining the sales process effortlessly. Our innovative technology has transformed art portfolio management, enhancing accessibility and providing users with data-driven insights for informed decision-making.
Yayoi Kusama
282 works
