{
  "id": 3683016,
  "title": "Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama dies aged 97",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/27/japanese-artist-yayoi-kusama-dies-aged-97",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-27T06:09:13.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The National Business",
    "slug": "the-national-business",
    "url": "https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/art-design/2026/08/27/japanese-artist-yayoi-kusama-dies-aged-97/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama passed away at the age of 97, according to her official website. She died at a hospital in Tokyo on August 14, 2026. Throughout her life, Kusama dedicated herself entirely to artistic creation, achieving international acclaim as a pioneering avant-garde artist. Her work spanned visual art, performance, fiction, and poetry.\n\nOne of the most recognizable artists worldwide, Kusama primarily worked in sculpture and installation. She was a significant creative figure to emerge from Japan. One of her paintings sold for approximately $10.5 million at auction in 2022, placing her works among the highest-earning by a female artist globally. Throughout her eight-decade career, Kusama influenced other artists, including American pop artists Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg.\n\nBorn on March 22, 1929, in Matsumoto, Nagano, Japan, Kusama began creating art at a young age. She used drawing and painting as a means to cope with the visual and auditory hallucinations she experienced. The dots that would become her signature style were representations of her childhood hallucinations, featuring vivid patterns and polka dots that obscured her vision. Kusama transformed these dots into large-scale pumpkin sculptures and incorporated them into her Infinity Mirror Rooms, designed to create the illusion of endlessness.",
  "summary": "Acclaimed Japanese avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama has died at the age of 97, her official website has announced. A statement published on Thursday morning read: \"It is with profound sorrow that the passing of Yayoi Kusama at a hospital in Tokyo on August 14, 2026, at the age of 97.\" \"Throughout an extraordinary lifetime devoted entirely to artistic creation, Kusama pursued an internationally…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 11,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Guardian",
        "title": "Yayoi Kusama, Japanese artist who became a global superstar, dies aged 97",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/27/yayoi-kusama-japanese-artist-who-became-a-global-superstar-dies-aged",
        "published": "2026-08-27T02:17:59.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "NYT Arts",
        "title": "Yayoi Kusama, Pop Artist Who Expanded and Endured, Dies at 97",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/27/yayoi-kusama-pop-artist-who-expanded-and-endured-dies-at-97",
        "published": "2026-08-27T02:26:43.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Japan Times",
        "title": "Acclaimed Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama dies at 97",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/27/acclaimed-japanese-artist-yayoi-kusama-dies-at-97",
        "published": "2026-08-27T02:28:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Sydney Morning Herald",
        "title": "Avant-garde Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama dies aged 97",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/27/avant-garde-japanese-artist-yayoi-kusama-dies-aged-97",
        "published": "2026-08-27T02:42:48.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Age",
        "title": "Avant-garde Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama dies aged 97",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/27/avant-garde-japanese-artist-yayoi-kusama-dies-aged-97-3651442",
        "published": "2026-08-27T03:15:07.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Artnet News",
        "title": "Yayoi Kusama, Era-Defining Artist of Dots, Mirrors, and Infinity, Dies at 97",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/27/yayoi-kusama-era-defining-artist-of-dots-mirrors-and-infinity-dies-at",
        "published": "2026-08-27T03:21:07.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Japan Forward",
        "title": "Avant-Garde Artist Yayoi Kusama Dies Aged 97",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/27/avant-garde-artist-yayoi-kusama-dies-aged-97",
        "published": "2026-08-27T03:33:16.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "BBC News",
        "title": "Japanese avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama dies aged 97",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/27/japanese-avant-garde-artist-yayoi-kusama-dies-aged-97",
        "published": "2026-08-27T03:57:35.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Hyperallergic",
        "title": "Yayoi Kusama, Artist of Infinities, Dies at 97",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/27/yayoi-kusama-artist-of-infinities-dies-at-97",
        "published": "2026-08-27T04:42:42.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The National UAE",
        "title": "Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama dies aged 97",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/27/japanese-artist-yayoi-kusama-dies-aged-97-3684409",
        "published": "2026-08-27T06:09:13.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}