Departures of note

Yayoi Kusama was a Japanese avant-garde artist born in Matsumoto, Nagano, who became one of the most celebrated and influential contemporary artists in the world. Plagued from childhood by hallucinations, she channeled her visions into art, beginning with the polka dots and net patterns that became her lifelong signature. She held her first solo exhibition in 1952 before moving to the United States in 1957 and settling in New York, where she pioneered soft sculpture, body art, and provocative "happenings" that placed her at the center of the 1960s avant-garde and pop-art scene.

After returning to Japan in 1973, Kusama continued to create prolifically despite years of being overlooked, writing novels and poetry while producing paintings, sculptures, and installations. A revival beginning in the late 1980s, capped by her representation of Japan at the 1993 Venice Biennale, brought her international acclaim. Her immersive Infinity Mirror Rooms and monumental pumpkin sculptures drew record audiences at major museums worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art, Tate Modern, and Centre Pompidou.

Kusama's reach extended beyond galleries through collaborations with Louis Vuitton and other brands, and the 2017 opening of the Yayoi Kusama Museum in Tokyo. She received numerous honors, including the Asahi Prize, the Praemium Imperiale, the Person of Cultural Merit, and the Order of Culture. She died on 14 August 2026 at age 97.