"Pumpkin," the signature work of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. Kusama died on Aug. 14 at the age of 97. [Getty Images]
"Pumpkin," the signature work of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. Kusama died on Aug. 14 at the age of 97. [Getty Images]

Japanese sculptor and installation artist Yayoi Kusama died on Aug. 14 at the age of 97.

Kusama died of multiple organ failure at a Tokyo hospital on Aug. 14, according to Kyodo News and other outlets.

She rose to international fame through her large pumpkin sculptures rendered in vivid polka-dot motifs. The endless patterns of dots and nets became her defining visual language, said to have originated in hallucinations she experienced from childhood.

Born in Nagano Prefecture, Japan, in 1929, Kusama moved to the United States in 1957 and worked in New York as a sculptor and avant-garde artist until returning to Japan in 1973. She drew wide attention through street performances — including painting polka dots on nude bodies — earning her the nickname "Queen of Happenings."

After returning to Japan, she continued producing work centered on her signature dots and net patterns. In 1993, she represented Japan as the sole artist at the Venice Biennale's Japanese Pavilion, and major retrospectives were held at prominent museums across Europe and the United States in 2011 and 2012.

The Yayoi Kusama Museum opened in Shinjuku, Tokyo, in 2017, and she continued to present new works there until late in her life. In recognition of her contributions to the arts, she received France's Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2003, was designated a Person of Cultural Merit in Japan in 2009, and received the Order of Culture in Japan in 2016.

Her signature work "Pumpkin" has been presented in a wide range of forms, from monumental sculptures to flat paintings. A yellow pumpkin painting from 1981 sold at auction in 2021 for 5.45 billion won ($3.94 million), and a green pumpkin painting fetched 6.42 billion won the following year. This past March, a large yellow pumpkin painting offered through Seoul Auction set a new record, selling for 10.45 billion won.


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