Yayoi Kusama, the renowned Japanese avant-garde artist known for her signature polka dot patterns and large pumpkin sculptures, died on August 14, 2026, in a hospital in Tokyo due to multiple organ failure at the age of 97 [1, 2, 3, 4].
Her artistic career spanned more than 80 years. It included visual art, performance art, novels, and poetry. She gained international fame with works like the "Infinity Mirror Room," the "My Eternal Soul" series, and her iconic pumpkin sculptures [1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 3, 4].
Kusama was active in the New York art scene starting in the late 1950s. After spending 16 years there, she returned to Japan in 1973 and from 1977 chose to live voluntarily in a psychiatric hospital in Tokyo, continuing to create art daily until shortly before her death. Her studio was located opposite the hospital, and the nearby Yayoi Kusama Museum is dedicated to her work [5, 6, 1].
She was widely known as the "Polka Dot Queen," having transformed her lifelong hallucinations of dots into her unique artistic style. Kusama described dots as symbols of the world and the universe: "The earth is a dot, the moon, the sun, and stars are all made up of dots. You and I, we are all dots" [5]. She also said, "I have painted every day since I was 10 years old. Not a day has ever passed without painting" [5].
A major retrospective exhibition of over 300 of Kusama's works was held from mid-March to August 2, 2026, at Museum Ludwig in Cologne, Germany, marking 50 years since her rise to international acclaim. Curator Stephan Diederich described the show as "diverse and all-encompassing, presenting Kusama's rich and creative career spanning more than 80 years" [2, 7].
Among her public works, the stone sculpture "Pumpkin Spirit" measuring 176 cm high, 400 cm long, and 300 cm wide, stands in the outdoor plaza of the Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum in Chiayi, Taiwan [3].
Kusama's death is the latest chapter in a life devoted to art and creativity. The Yayoi Kusama Museum in Tokyo remains a focal point for her legacy and continues to welcome visitors.
