Yayoi Kusama and Stefan Achilles

Yayoi arrived in NYC on June 28th, 1958. She had little money, spoke little English, and had few friends.* She did have, however, lots of enthusiasm and big dreams. Greenwich Village was, at this time, the center of the art world (especially abstract expressionism) and, as the song goes, if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. It was the place to be.

One of the first people Yayoi contacted was Philip Pavia, founder of The Club and editor of the new and audacious It Is Magazine.* Stefan Achilles notes, in one of his diaries, that he first met Yayoi in November, 1958 through Pavia, his lifelong friend from Bridgeport, CT.

A friendship developed between Yayoi and Achilles that lasted at least from 1958 to 1962. Achilles writes, in an entry, that he and Yayoi, one New Years Eve, went to five or six parties and finally ended up at The Club with a group of friends, where he was a member.

Achilles was also friends with Matsumi “Mike” Kanemitsu, the well known abstract expressionist, and would spend time in his studio, observing him at work. It seems quite likely that Achilles was deeply influenced by both Yayoi and Kanematsu in embracing Japanese sumi-e painting, particularly simple black ink, sumi brushes and spontaneous brush strokes. In a letter to Pavia in 1959, Achilles boasts that his goal is to become the worlds foremost sumi artist. Achilles further writes in a diary entry that 1958 was a transformational year in his development as an artist. This is when he met Yayoi.

As an interesting side note, in an entry dated 1-7-1969, Achilles makes a list of former love interests: Yayoi was one of them.

References:

*Midori Yamamura Kusama Yayoi’s Early Years in New York: A Critical Biography http://www.academia.edu

Stefan Achilles Letters to Philip Pavia. Philip Pavia and Natalie Edgar Archive. Emory University, Stuart A. Rose Library. Series 2: It Is Magazine.

Stefan Achilles Diaries and Personal Papers. The Stefan Achilles Archive/Joseph Filocomo Archivist