Hand-painted figurine “Pumpkin” (2025) by Yayoi Kusama, zinc alloy with perforated dots, limited edition

Yayoi Kusama was born in Japan in 1929 and initially studied painting in Kyoto before moving to New York City in the late 1950s. Since the artist's first solo exhibition in her home country in 1952, her works have been regularly shown in solo and group exhibitions. In the mid-1960s, she cemented her status as a major avant-garde artist in New York by organizing groundbreaking happenings, events, and exhibitions that had a formative impact. She was widely recognized by the late 1980s following several international solo exhibitions. She also represented Japan at the 45th Venice Biennale in 1993, receiving critical acclaim. Kusama's works cross the boundaries of two important art movements of the second half of the 20th century: Pop Art and Minimalism. Her impressive and highly influential oeuvre includes paintings, performances, room-sized installations, outdoor sculptural works, literary works, films, fashion, design, and interventions in existing architecture that address both microscopic and macroscopic universes.