Overview
- Yayoi Kusama’s studio, Yayoi Kusama Inc., announced on August 27 that she died on August 14, 2026 in a Tokyo hospital and that she painted up to her final days.
- Japanese news agency Jiji Press reported the cause as multiple-organ failure, but that medical detail has not been included in all accounts and remains unevenly corroborated.
- Kusama built a global legacy with her Infinity Mirror Rooms, polka-dot motifs and pumpkin sculptures that drew millions of visitors and produced multi‑million‑dollar sales and major museum retrospectives.
- Her long career included a move to New York in the late 1950s, high‑profile 1960s performances, and a voluntary, decades‑long residence near a Tokyo psychiatric hospital from which she continued producing work.
- The artist’s studio pledged to carry out her wishes through future art and programming, and institutions, dealers and brands are preparing tributes, renewed exhibitions and likely market attention for her estate.