A Seller's Guide to Yayoi Kusama

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.

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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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.

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.

At MyArtBroker, our specialists provide a free market valuation for your artwork, offering a level of transparency unmatched in today’s market. In addition to our valuations, through our online Trading Floor, you can access real-time insights into works by the artist you’re looking to sell, including pieces that are most in demand, wanted, or currently for sale: allowing sellers to trust the valuation that they are provided.

Additionally, the MyPortfolio collection management service grants you free access to our comprehensive print market database. This resource allows you to review auction histories for the specific work you’re looking to sell, including hammer prices, values paid, and seller returns. In a fluctuating market, this historical data is invaluable - and often comes at a cost elsewhere - offering insights into past and current values to further inform decisions based on market timing and conditions. In addition to our specialists guidance, you have concrete data.

Our approach is tailored to align with the unique attributes of each artwork, and offer optimal results:

How a Private Sale Works

Unlike peer-to-peer platforms, which lack specialised expertise, authenticity guarantees, and legal infrastructure for high-value sales, MyArtBroker operates through private sales ensuring a secure and seamless transaction process. We charge sellers 0% to sell, and take a small commission from our buyers, absorbing essential aspects including insurance, shipping, and marketing - at no extra cost to the seller. There is no magic to it, we’re a lean specialised business with less overheads than traditional models meaning we can do better for our clients.

Our revenue is derived from buyer commissions only, which are individually negotiated upon offer, and we aim to give the client the best return in the market place. By focusing on high-value artworks in excess of £10,000, we provide specialised care and expertise, ensuring each piece receives the attention it deserves, while simultaneously maximising returns with our clients. For works that fall below this threshold speak to the team about a recommendation, we offer market advisory free of charge. Our goal at MyArtBroker is to offer a seamless solution, setting us apart in the art market.

Advisory and Recommendations

In cases for artists and artworks, where our existing network of collectors isn’t the best fit due to value, medium or condition we collaborate with reputable partners to facilitate its sale. Carefully tailoring your artwork to the right party. This tailored approach is especially important as it considers the unique attributes of each artwork, providing sellers with the best possible outcome in today’s shifting art market. You can discuss this approach with us without charge as part of our advisory service.

Such recommendations are on a case-by-case basis, and ensures broader exposure and takes advantage of our knowledge of where a work will do best.

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.

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.