One of Yayoi Kusama’s spotted pumpkin sculptures. (Photo: Yue-Ting Lin via Unsplash)
It’s been a big year for Yayoi Kusama. In March, Kusama led sales at Art Basel Hong Kong, securing a $3.5 million deal for her 2013 acrylic-on-canvas work INFINITY-NETS [ORUPX]. Her major retrospective at the Melbourne-based National Gallery of Victoria also smashed records, becoming the most popular exhibition in Australian history. But 2025 is about to get even bigger for the renowned artist. This fall, she will receive yet another landmark retrospective, traveling to several museums across Europe.
Opening on October 12, 2025, at the Fondation Beyeler in Basel, Yayoi Kusama will offer a “complete overview” of the artist’s more than seven-decade career, according to the museum. The exhibition will encompass everything from Kusama’s iconic polka dot paintings and pumpkin sculptures to her beloved Infinity Mirror Rooms. Given Kusama’s sprawling output and her experimental practice, a range of media will be featured, spanning installations, drawings, collage, live performances, fashion, and literature. Also included are both early as well as new works, including some created specifically for this exhibition.
After its run at the Fondation Beyeler, Yayoi Kusama will land at Cologne’s Museum Ludwig on March 14, 2026, and, after that, at Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum on September 11, 2026, where it’ll run through January 17, 2027.
“Yayoi Kusama is an artist who compels us to see the world through a different lens,” Rein Wolfs, director of the Stedelijk Museum, said in a statement. “Even at her advanced age, she continues to captivate audiences, drawing in visitors of all generations with her mesmerizing creations. This exhibition promises to be a feast for the eyes where one can truly lose themselves in her extraordinary art.”
At 96 years old, Kusama remains one of the world’s most influential and successful artists. Throughout her career, she has served as a central figure in New York’s Pop Art movement in the 1960s; represented Japan at the Venice Biennale in 1993; and was reported as the top-selling contemporary artist in 2023, accumulating more than $80.9 million at auction. Her playful simplicity, vibrant color palettes, and imaginative conceits have cemented her as a household name for children, adults, seasoned art lovers, and casual museum-goers alike.
“In front of paint brushes and canvas, my hands react to them and make my work before I think of anything,” Kusama has said of her art. “Then, when the piece is completed, I look at it, and am surprised by the result—always.”
To stay updated on Europe’s upcoming Yayoi Kusama retrospective, visit the Fondation Beyeler website.
A landmark Yayoi Kusama retrospective will open this October at Basel’s Fondation Beyeler, before traveling to Cologne and Amsterdam throughout 2026.
The Fondation Beyeler in Switzerland. (Photo: Taxiarchos228 via Wikimedia Commons, Free Art License)
Exhibition Information:
Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama
October 12, 2025–January 25, 2026
Fondation Beyeler
Baselstrasse 101, 4125 Riehen, Switzerland
Sources: Fondation Beyeler: Yayoi Kusama; Yayoi Kusama to get major European retrospective in 2025–26.; A Major Yayoi Kusama Retrospective is Coming to Europe
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