Early Yayoi Kusama works come out of Dutch collection

Yayoi Kusama has “gone from being a global phenomenon to a household name” thanks to her recent collaborations with Louis Vuitton, says Jean-Paul Engelen, president of the Americas at Phillips auction house. Museums across the world are also giving more weight to the range of her work, beyond the polka-dot pumpkins and Infinity Rooms for which the Japanese artist is best known. Now Phillips has two of her early soft-sculpture works — three-dimensional pieces that hang on the wall — which have been in the collection of the Dutch couple Agnes and Frits Becht since they were made in 1965. “Blue Spots” — with trademark polka dots — and “Red Stripes” come to auction in New York on May 17, each with a $2.5mn-$3.5mn estimate.

Kusama’s work was brought to The Hague in 1965 for her first solo show in Europe at Orez Gallery, where Frits Becht, a TV-ratings executive who died in 2006, and his wife saw it. They supported the artist for decades, including buying a shipping container of 39 of her works unseen, to expedite their move out of UK customs. These cost the equivalent of $16,000 in 1976, Engelen says.

The artist has an exhibition of seven decades of work in Hong Kong’s M+ Museum (until May 14), while the Phillips works have been requested as loans for a show of Kusama’s Dutch years at the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam (September 23 2023-February 25 2024).

London’s Cork Street will get a significant boost when Alison Jacques gallery opens its 6,000 sq ft headquarters at number 22 in the autumn. Jacques will keep her existing space on Berners Street, a mile north of the new gallery, where she has been since 2007. “We’ve completely outgrown our premises and Mayfair is where it’s at,” she says. “We want to give our artists the best possible platform.”

On Cork Street, which has been gradually reinvigorated by the landlord Pollen Estate since 2016, Jacques joins Goodman Gallery at number 26 and Frieze’s gallery hub at number 9. Stephen Friedman is also revamping a building at 5-6 Cork Street, also to open in the autumn. Jacques says the history of the street is also part of the attraction: “Robert Fraser, John Kasmin, James Mayor, Bernard Jacobson were all here and are examples of gallerist-dealers who were true connoisseurs.”

Architect Mike Rundell takes on the “substantial eight-month renovation” of the building, she says. The first show will be of new work by 88-year old textile artist Sheila Hicks. This will be followed by an exhibition of late American photographer Robert Mapplethorpe.

Sotheby’s will add a bit of rock and roll to New York’s auction season in May with the collection of record producer Mo Ostin. Headlined by two René Magritte paintings, the auction house will offer 33 works with a combined estimate of at least $120mn, 15 of which will be in a dedicated sale on May 16.

The longtime chief executive of Warner Bros Records made a name for himself through astute signings — among his success stories were Frank Sinatra, Joni Mitchell, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Madonna. Ostin, who died in 2022, was an avid art collector, again with a taste for 20th-century hits. Works by Willem de Kooning, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Cy Twombly join Magritte’s “L’Empire des lumières” (1951, est $35mn-$45mn) and “Le Domaine d’Arnheim” (est $15mn-$25mn). Ostin bought both of the Magrittes privately from another entertainment executive, David Geffen, in 1979 and 1990 respectively. Ostin’s works come to market without a pre-arranged guarantee of sale.

A star-studded statement from Sotheby’s includes a quote from Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, who says that Ostin “went out of his way to be around [art], talk about it and, if possible, have it in his home to share with everyone he knew”.

Ukraine’s Voloshyn Gallery will reopen in Kyiv, having closed as Russia’s invasion began in February 2022. The decision has been challenging, says co-founder Max Voloshyn. “We planned to open last October but there was an unexpected attack, with one missile falling in the playground just outside our building,” he says. Electricity, internet access and mobile signal have not always been available. Now, he says, “it is very difficult but people are trying to live a normal life and they want to see art. We want to show there is some hope for the future, for peace”. His wife and gallery co-founder Julia Voloshyna adds: “Our artists have produced so much work that nobody in the community has seen.”

It opens on April 14 with a group show called Camera Obscura, comprising Ukrainian and international artists. Most of the works do not directly address the war, Voloshyna says. The gallery shows this week at the Expo Chicago fair (April 13-16) then at Art Brussels (April 20-23) and is currently in the four-gallery event Preview in Milan (until April 23).

Thomas Dane Gallery now represents the in-demand South African multimedia artist Igshaan Adams (born 1982), his first UK representative. Adams works mostly in tapestry and textiles, sometimes creating deceptively enchanting installations that reflect the complicated history of his country. The artist had a critically acclaimed first US museum show at the Art Institute of Chicago last year. Dane says that Adams’s combination of a “beautiful aesthetic with strong political dimensions” fits well with the gallery’s programme. Steve McQueen, Hurvin Anderson and Catherine Opie are among his artists.

Adams is relatively untested at auction and Dane — who will work alongside blank projects gallery in Cape Town and Casey Kaplan in New York — says he aims to “help guide” the artist through what is likely a busier time. The gallery kicks off its representation with a solo show of new weaving-based work during Frieze — London’s art market primetime — and Dane promises “a large-scale installation within the gallery”.

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