Alice Topno
Alice Mary Topno is an Entertainment journalist at India.com who loves telling stories that spark conversations. Covering Bollywood, Hollywood, Korean entertainment, lifestyle, and pop culture, she br ... Read More
There are some artists whose work is instantly recognisable, even before you know their name. Yayoi Kusama was one of them. Her bright polka dots, giant pumpkins, and mirrored installations turned galleries into dream-like spaces and made her one of the most famous contemporary artists in the world. Kusama has now died at the age of 97, bringing an extraordinary career spanning more than seven decades to an end. Her studio announced that she died at a hospital in Tokyo on August 14, 2026. A cause of death was not initially disclosed.
Yayoi Kusama leaves behind a body of incredible work. What began with dots and repeated patterns became a world of mirrors, pumpkins, lights and endless spaces and helped make her one of the most recognisable artists of her generation. A statement from Yayoi Kusama’s company – Yayoi Kusama Museum said: “It is with profound sorrow that we announce that Yayoi Kusama passed away at a hospital in Tokyo on August 14, 2026, at the age of 97. Throughout an extraordinary lifetime devoted entirely to artistic creation, Kusama pursued an internationally acclaimed career as a pioneering avant-garde artist whose creative practice encompassed visual art, performance, fiction, and poetry.”
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The statement further reads, “She continued to paint until her final days, never setting aside her brush,and remained steadfast in her lifelong belief that love can save the world. We will carry forward Kusama’s wishes and, through art, continue to bring hope and strength for the future to people around the world.”
Born in Matsumoto, Japan, in 1929, Yayoi Kusama began making art from a young age. She later moved to New York in 1957, where she became part of the city’s avant-garde art scene. Her career was not an easy one, particularly as a Japanese woman trying to establish herself in the Western art world.
Kusama developed a style built around repetition, dots and patterns. Her early ‘Infinity Nets’ paintings featured thousands of small, repeated brushstrokes across large canvases. Over time, those ideas grew into sculptures, performances, and large-scale installations.
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Her art was deeply personal. Kusama had spoken openly about experiencing hallucinations from childhood, including visions of dots and patterns covering the world around her. She turned those experiences into her art, creating a visual language that eventually became known across the globe.
Yayoi Kusama became particularly famous for her polka dots, pumpkins and Infinity Mirror Rooms. Her mirrored installations used lights, reflections and carefully designed spaces to create the feeling of being surrounded by an endless universe. The Infinity Mirror Rooms became hugely popular with museum visitors, especially after social media helped introduce her work to a much wider audience. People around the world queued to experience the colourful, seemingly endless spaces for themselves.
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Her famous pumpkin sculptures also became closely associated with her work. The bright yellow pumpkin covered in black dots on Japan’s Naoshima island is among her best-known creations. She collaborated with fashion and luxury brands, including Louis Vuitton, and her distinctive dot-covered designs appeared on clothing, accessories and other products.
Her work eventually found a place in some of the world’s leading museums, including the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum in New York. She also received Japan’s prestigious Order of Culture in 2016.
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