Mt.
Fuji

Kusama was so in awe of Mount Fuji during her initial encounter, that she created the first lithograph Mt. Fuji in 1983 in order to capture the magnificence of Japan’s tallest mountain. Despite a long tradition of Japanese artists paying homage to the famous landmark, Kusama defied tradition by using an unconventionally vivid colour palette of red and white. Employing her trademark polka dot style, Kusama created a dimensionality and dynamism to her artwork. Since Mt. Fuji’s creation, Kusama has revisited the subject and notably produced the woodcut series Mt. Fuji In Seven Colours (2015), which have become some of the artist’s most popular works.

Kusama’s work is most recognisable through her signature polka dot style, used within her work to represent concepts of infinity. Kusama attributes her extensive use of polka dots to hallucinations she experienced as a child, describing visions of “flashes of light, auras or dense fields of dots”. Her endless repetition of dots creates a sense of boundlessness that mimics the infinite nature of the universe and visions of vastness. Within her series Mt. Fuji In Seven Colours (2015), Kusama employs her distinct style to capture a sense of perspectival depth around the mountain and to impose an endless impression of natural vastness.

Born in Matsumoto City in the 1920s, Kusama originally studied Nihonga painting at the Kyoto City University of Art, a style of art that literally translates to 'Japanese painting’. Although Kusama’s subject matter transformed hugely during her residence in New York in the 1960s, her early artwork depicted traditional Japanese subjects and compositions. Mt. Fuji (1983) and Kusama’s later reproductions of the mountain demonstrate the enduring influence of her upbringing within her work.

In 2015, Kusama collaborated with the Adachi Institute to create the woodcut series Mt. Fuji In Seven Colours. This collaboration produced the artist’s first ever ukiyo-e, a traditional Japanese woodcut, and was initiated by the Institute to modernise traditional mediums by showcasing the fusion of Kusama’s avant-garde style with traditional Japanese woodcutting techniques. The Adachi Institute also hoped that this series would encourage younger generations to preserve the ukiyo-e tradition.

Kusama’s fascination with nature has been a consistent theme throughout her career, with her most distinctive works featuring pumpkins, flowers, and concepts of infinity. Growing up in Matsumoto, immersed in greenery and surrounded by mountains, it is unsurprising that by integrating Mt. Fuji into her oeuvre, she has successfully created traditional depictions of Japanese nature using her distinctly expressive colour palette and dots.

Kusama holds one of the highest auction prices for any living female artist, with her highest priced artwork selling for $10.9 million at Phillips in 2022. Kusama’s Mt. Fuji In Seven Colours (2015) are also some of her highest selling prints, with the complete Mt. Fuji in Seven Colours woodcuts selling for almost £230,000. Kusama’s Mt. Fuji series contribute to the artist’s lasting legacy in contemporary art and her innovative techniques and interpretations ensure her work remains highly sought after.

Kusama’s Mt. Fuji depictions have been the subjects of many major exhibitions, showcasing her interpretation of the iconic mountain to a global audience. Kusama’s Mt. Fujis have been displayed at the Museum of Modern Art, the Tate Modern, and the National Museum of Modern Art. Kusama has also established her own museum in Tokyo, The Yayoi Kusama Museum, which opened in 2014 and displays her own work.

Kusama is well known for utilising an extremely diverse array of mediums. Practising watercolour, sculpture, installation art and anti-war performance art, Kusama has proven throughout her artistic career that she cannot be contained to a singular medium. Her initial visitation of Mt. Fuji in 1983 was produced as a lithograph using a red and white palette. Her later 2015 woodcut print series depicting Mt. Fuji utilised a very different traditional technique and witnessed seven different colour palettes using blues, greens, oranges and reds.

In traditional depictions of Mount Fuji, Japanese artists often employ pastel colours to generate a hazy and subtle juxtaposition between the foreground and the background. Whilst, Kusama’s Mt. Fuji (1983) depicts the traditional landmark, her colour palette is unconventional and adds depth, giving the perception that the mountain leaps out at the viewer in a way that cannot be defined as subtle.

Although Mt. Fuji is undeniably an important geographical landmark, the mountain also symbolises perseverance and eternity. Kusama’s difficult childhood and her anxieties surrounding her father’s extramarital affairs have resulted in her artwork reflecting her healing process in terms of mental health. Creating interpretations of Mt. Fuji and its subsequent symbolism does not only reflect the influence of her childhood surroundings but also her personal expression of struggle.