Yayoi Kusama in 2025: A Titan in Motion

At 96, Yayoi Kusama remains one of the most influential and best-loved artists working today. Her energy shows no sign of slowing in 2025, and her presence across museums, the market and global culture continues to strengthen.

2025 has already delivered several major highlights. In March, Kusama drew attention at Art Basel Hong Kong when Infinity-Nets [ORUPX] sold for $3.5 million. Around the same time, the National Gallery of Victoria announced that its Kusama retrospective became the most attended ticketed exhibition in Australian history, welcoming more than half a million visitors. The scale of this response confirms her extraordinary ability to captivate audiences of all ages and backgrounds.

This momentum continued into the autumn. The Fondation Beyeler opens a major Kusama retrospective in October, featuring early works never before seen in Europe as well as new productions created for the show. The exhibition will then travel to Cologne and Amsterdam through 2027. In Osaka, the Louis Vuitton Foundation will present Yayoi Kusama: Infinity – Selected Works from the Collection, offering a wide survey of her practice across the global Espaces Louis Vuitton network.

Recent auction results in Hong Kong have reaffirmed Kusama's status as one of the most dependable names in contemporary art. Major pumpkins, Infinity Nets and historical works have all performed strongly, often above their estimates. From large-scale canvases to more intimate paintings and sculptures, the consistency across categories suggests broad and stable demand.

This endurance is shaped by both the clarity of her visual language and the reality of her finite output. Collectors recognise that with Kusama approaching the end of her working life, opportunities to acquire pieces created during her lifetime are becoming increasingly limited.

Kusama's appeal continues to cross generations. Her early paintings reveal deep psychological intensity, while her mirrored rooms and dotted environments offer moments of shared wonder. Her pumpkins have become some of the most recognisable images in contemporary art. In 2025, her work feels both timeless and perfectly aligned with an image driven culture that values accessibility and immersion.

As 2025 comes to an end, Kusama's influence remains unmistakable. Touring retrospectives, record-breaking attendance and resilient market performance all reinforce her position as a defining figure of our era. Far from slowing down, her impact continues to grow.