Yayoi Kusama, Japanese artist behind Infinity Mirror Rooms, dies at 97
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Yayoi Kusama, the Japanese artist renowned for her polka dots, pumpkins and Infinity Mirror Rooms, has died aged 97. Her company said she died in a Tokyo hospital on 14 August, having continued painting until her final days; her death marks the end of a career that made her one of contemporary art’s most recognisable global figures.
Kusama was initially overlooked in New York’s male-dominated 1960s art world before achieving international recognition later in life. She voluntarily lived and worked in a Japanese psychiatric hospital for decades, represented Japan at the 1993 Venice Biennale, and saw her Infinity Mirror Rooms draw millions of visitors; a painting sold for about $10.5m (£7.7m) in 2022, while Tate Modern described its Kusama exhibition as its most visited ever.
- Yayoi Kusama has died aged 97 in Tokyo.
- She became famous for dots, pumpkins and mirror installations.
- Her later career brought global acclaim and record visitor numbers.
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Yayoi Kusama was a Japanese artist known for using repeated patterns, especially dots and pumpkins, in paintings, sculptures and installations. Her Infinity Mirror Rooms use mirrors, lights and objects to create the impression of a space extending far beyond its real size.
She spent time in New York in the late 1950s and 1960s, when she took part in experimental art movements but found it difficult to gain recognition. Kusama later returned to Japan and chose to live near a psychiatric hospital while continuing to make art.
Over time, her work reached a much wider audience through museums, popular exhibitions and commercial collaborations. She became one of Japan’s best-known contemporary artists, with her installations drawing large crowds around the world.
Full account
Japanese avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama, whose work made polka dots, pumpkins and mirror-filled installations internationally familiar, has died aged 97. Her company said she died in a Tokyo hospital on 14 August and had continued painting until the end of her life.
Kusama’s practice ranged across visual art, performance, fiction and poetry. She first drew attention in New York during the 1960s with provocative sculptures and performances, including works involving phallic forms and nudity. Her Infinity Mirror Rooms, introduced in 1965, used reflections and lights to give visitors the impression of an unending space and later became a major attraction for museums worldwide.
Her career was not consistently celebrated. The reports describe her frustration at seeing ideas associated with her work receive greater recognition when taken up by male contemporaries in a male-dominated art world. After returning to Japan in distress, she entered a psychiatric facility for treatment and lived and worked there for the rest of her life, using its stable setting to continue making art.
In later decades Kusama became a global cultural figure, particularly through the popularity of her immersive installations and her distinctive motifs. She represented Japan alone at the Venice Biennale in 1993, after having staged an unauthorised intervention there decades earlier. Her art achieved very high auction prices, and her imagery also entered fashion through collaborations. Her company said it intended to continue sharing the hope and strength it associated with her work.
Where outlets differ
Source 1 places greater emphasis on Kusama’s early marginalisation, her darker collage work in the 1970s and early 1980s, the 1993 Venice Biennale, and a 2025 Basel retrospective.
Source 2 focuses more on her commercial stature, citing a $10.5m painting sale in 2022 and collaborations with Louis Vuitton.
Both reports give the same date and place of death and describe her long residence in a psychiatric facility, but Source 1 provides more detail about the artistic environment and her disputes over influence.
More coverage
- Far Out — Japanese pop artist Yayoi Kusama dead at 97
- BBC Entertainment — In pictures: The dotty world of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama
- HuffPost — Yayoi Kusama, Who Splashed Polka Dots Across Art World, Dies At 97 In Tokyo
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Originally published by BBC Entertainment as “Japanese polka dot artist Yayoi Kusama dies aged 97”.