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Lot Essay
“Unlike her later work, the specificity and uniqueness of the central image in A Face is typical of Kusama’s works on paper of the early 1950s. Delicate skeins of colored lines emerge from a lighter center which glows in the surrounding darkness. Mesmerizing, the delicate patches of color and lines become a face. Cartoon-like lips float below and to the right of the head. The use of space- positioning of the two elements- lips and head- and the abstractedness of the head in relation to the drawing of the lips- intuitive, mysterious, deeply satisfying- is the brilliance of Kusama. This is a particularly fine example of Kusama’s work on paper.” —
P. Cooper quoted in “Don’t Look.” Contemporary Drawings from Martina Yamin's Collection, exh. cat., Davis Museum, Wellesley College, 2007, p. 62.
P. Cooper quoted in “Don’t Look.” Contemporary Drawings from Martina Yamin's Collection, exh. cat., Davis Museum, Wellesley College, 2007, p. 62.