Yayoi Kusama

Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama in c. 2004
Born
Yayoi Kusama

(1929-03-22)22 March 1929
Matsumoto, Nagano, Japan
Died14 August 2026(2026-08-14) (aged 97)
Tokyo, Japan
NationalityJapanese
Known for
Movement
AwardsPraemium Imperiale
Websitewww.yayoi-kusama.jp

Yayoi Kusama (草間 彌生, Kusama Yayoi; 22 March 1929 – 14 August 2026) was a Japanese contemporary artist and writer. She was well known for her repeating dot patterns in her art. She used a variety of media. These include painting, drawing, sculpture, movies, performance and immersive installation.

Her art ranged from works on paper featuring intense semi-abstract imagery, to soft sculpture known as ‘Accumulations’, to her ‘Infinity Net’ paintings. These paintings were made up of carefully repeated arcs of paint built up into large patterns.

Kusama lived voluntarily in a psychiatric institution, starting in 1977. Much of her work was marked with obsessiveness and a desire to escape from psychological trauma. In an attempt to share her experiences, she created installations that immerse the viewer in her obsessive vision of endless dots and nets or infinitely mirrored space.

Biography

Yayoi Kusama was born in 1929 in Matsumoto, Nagano. She started drawing pictures with a motif of polka dots with watercolors, pastel and oil paints at 10 years old. She entered art university in Kyoto. Afterwards, she went to the US to study art. She did intense performances whose name were “happening” there to protest wars. In 1968. her movie won the prize of the 4th Belgian International Short Film Festival. She also had exhibitions held around the world. A documentary movie about her was released in 2019. It received high evaluations.

Kusama died at a hospital in Tokyo on 14 August 2026 from multiple organ failure at the age of 97. Her death was announced on 27 August.

Sickness

Kusama suffered from hallucinations. Her field of vision was covered with polka dots, and she says that flowers speak to her. She had schizophrenia from childhood. She decided to paint to run away from the hallucinations and the fear of death. Her works reflected what she saw.

Art works

All of Kusama's works are expensive. Kusama became the most expensive living female artist at auction when White No. 28 (1960) from her signature Infinity Nets series sold for $7.1 million at a 2014 Christie's auction.

References

  1. ↑ "草間彌生の逝去のお知らせ" [Announcement of the passing of Yayoi Kusama]. Yayoi Kusama Official Site (in Japanese). 27 August 2026. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
  2. ↑ Kelly Crow (12 November 2014), Christie’s Makes History With $853 Million Sale of Contemporary Art – Andy Warhol’s ‘Triple Elvis [Ferus Type]’ Sells for $82 Million Archived 16 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine The Wall Street Journal.

Other websites

Media related to Yayoi Kusama at Wikimedia Commons