Blue Rose in the Cube Study 1

The present lot is a unique prototype for Tadao Ando’s sculpture The Table of Pirosmani, later realised as an immersive composition featuring 564 blue roses encased in acrylic cubes and 164 empty cubes that symbolize unfulfilled aspirations. Drawing on the concept first explored in Blue Rose in the Cube, Ando fuses transparent confinement with the fragile poetry of a flower.

Reflecting on his vision, Ando writes:

‘As the idea of this sculpture developed, the rose became central to its design. In Japanese culture, cherry blossoms wither within two weeks. I believe flowers are most beautiful just before their petals drift to the ground. The rose is ephemeral, a fleeting representation of the narrow space between birth and death, a symbol of the contradiction between beauty and mortality. While creating The Table of Pirosmani, I sought to capture the fleeting nature of life.’

Encased in a clear acrylic structure, each rose becomes both shielded and exposed, revealing Ando’s paradoxical theme: beauty preserved in stasis yet destined to fade. In contrast, the empty cubes evoke the pang of aspirations that remain out of reach. Together, they transform stillness into poetic reflection—a meditation on life’s impermanence and the delicate balance between what we cherish and what ultimately slips away.