Yayoi Kusama, the Japanese avant-garde artist known for her polka dots, pumpkins, and infinity mirror rooms, has died at a hospital in Tokyo on 14 August. She was 97. Her company confirmed the news, stating she continued to paint until her final days, exploring themes of "forever love and eternal soul."

Kusama became a global cultural icon in her 80s and 90s, but her early career in New York during the 1960s was marked by struggle. Her phallic sculptures and nude performances drew scorn, and she watched male contemporaries like Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg gain recognition for similar ideas.

Returning to Japan, she voluntarily checked into a psychiatric facility, where she lived and worked for decades. Her breakthrough came with the 1993 Venice Biennale, where she became Japan's first solo representative, and her "Infinity Mirror Rooms" later attracted millions worldwide.

Her works fetched some of the highest prices for a female artist, with one painting selling for about $10.5m in 2022. Catherine Wood of Tate Modern called her exhibition there "our most visited of all time," reflecting Kusama's enduring global appeal.