Who Was Yayoi Kusama? 5 Things About the Legendary Japanese Artist
The artistic trailblazer passed away at 97 years old.
by Kyla Villena
Published on Aug 27, 2026
The Princess of Polka Dots has departed her earthly life.
It was recently announced that artist Yayoi Kusama passed away on August 14, 2026. The Yayoi Kusama Museum wrote, “She continued to paint until her final days, never setting aside her brush, and remained steadfast in her lifelong belief that love can save the world.”
The avant-garde Japanese artist was globally renowned for her extraordinary creations, with a practice encompassing visual art, performance, fiction, and poetry. She endured life’s challenges and stood firmly for several causes—values that are reflected in the legacy she leaves behind.
In mourning and in memory, we remember Yayoi Kusama.
Who Was Yayoi Kusama?
She was 97 years old.
Yayoi was born on March 22, 1929, in Matsumoto, Japan. Growing up during wartime, she turned to art as a form of therapy. This passion was not exactly welcomed by her socially conservative family, while the art world at the time was largely Western-centric and male-dominated. She constantly had to prove her worth, eventually becoming the revered artist the world has come to know and love.
Her iconic polka dots were inspired by a hallucination.
Yayoi has become inseparable from polka dots, with her works adorned by their obsessive repetition. The origins of this signature motif can be traced back to a psychiatric episode during her childhood. She was looking at the red flower patterns on a tablecloth when she began to see the same pattern covering the ceiling, the walls, the entire room, and eventually, the universe and her own being.
“I felt as if I had begun to self-obliterate, to revolve in the infinity of endless time and the absoluteness of space,” she said. Throughout her career, she extensively used polka dots across installations, paintings, sculptures, and more.
She stood for several advocacies.
Beyond the healing power of art, Yayoi was also known as an anti-war activist who raised awareness about mental health and advocated for sexual liberation. She was also a fierce defender of LGBTQIA+ rights. Many of her memorable protests took place in the 1960s, when she was living in New York during the Vietnam War. She orchestrated a number of protest happenings against war, capitalism, and more.
She lived in a mental hospital by choice.
Yayoi returned to Japan in 1973 after her time in New York. After experiencing several mental health crises, she voluntarily checked herself into Seiwa Hospital in Shinjuku, Tokyo, in 1977. She lived at the hospital for the remainder of her life, while her art studio was within walking distance.
She was considered the most successful living female artist.
Yayoi was the first woman to represent Japan at the international art exhibition Venice Biennale in 1966. The milestone helped propel her to international acclaim, and the rest is history.
Today, people wait in long lines for hours to enter her museum and gallery exhibitions. This widespread admiration has translated to commercial success, too. According to Sotheby’s, Yayoi boasted “the highest auction prices of any living woman artist.” The record for any woman artist, living or dead, belonged to her mentor, Georgia O’Keeffe.
Rest in peace, Yayoi Kusama.
Kyla Villena loves a good lip gloss and a trip to the art gallery. She is Preview's beauty girl, who doubles as a self-proclaimed motivational speaker.