Pioneering Japanese Avant-Garde Artist Yayoi Kusama Passes Away at 97

Acclaimed Japanese avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama has died at the age of 97, according to an announcement on her official website.

A statement published on Thursday morning stated: "It is with profound sorrow that the passing of Yayoi Kusama at a hospital in Tokyo on August 14, 2026, at the age of 97." The statement added that 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.

As one of the world's most recognisable artists, Kusama worked primarily in sculpture and installation and stood out as one of the most significant creatives to emerge from Japan. In 2022, one of her paintings fetched about $10.5m at auction, placing her works among the highest-earning in the world for a female artist. Over her eight-decade career, she influenced other prominent figures, including American pop artists Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg.

Born on March 22, 1929, in Matsumoto, Nagano, Japan, Kusama began creating art at a young age. She used drawing and painting as a way to cope with the visual and auditory hallucinations she experienced. Her defining style—featuring signature dots—stemmed from childhood hallucinations where vivid patterns and polka dots obscured her vision. She famously used these dots to decorate large-scale pumpkin sculptures and as points of light within her immersive Infinity Mirror Rooms, which were designed to appear endless.