Yayoi Kusama dies at 97 after reshaping contemporary art
What's new: The Japanese artist died Aug. 14 in a Tokyo hospital after working until her final days.
Yayoi Kusama, the Japanese avant-garde artist whose dot-covered paintings, pumpkin motifs and Infinity Mirror Rooms made her one of the world’s most recognizable contemporary artists, died Aug. 14 at a hospital in Tokyo. She was 97. A statement on her official website did not give a cause of death and said she continued painting until her final days. Born in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, Kusama moved to New York at 27 and built an international career shaped by hallucinations she had experienced since childhood. Her work was exhibited at major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art, and she later partnered with Louis Vuitton. In 2016, Japan awarded her the Order of Culture.