IN MEMORIAM YAYOI KUSAMA

It is with great sadness that we bid farewell to Yayoi Kusama. In the fall of 2025, in collaboration with the Fondation Beyeler in Riehen, we had the privilege of publishing a wonderful catalogue dedicated to her work. This book also accompanies the exhibitions at the Museum Ludwig in Cologne and, starting in early September, at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.

With both the exhibition and the book, Leontine Coelewij, Stephan Diederich, and Mouna Mekouar succeeded in bringing this extraordinary body of work right back into the spotlight of art history. Following the passing of the remarkably prolific and dedicated artist, this final project stands as a wonderful legacy, offering a comprehensive view of her artistic journey. Beyond the striking popularity and omnipresence of the polka dots in her art, it above all highlights the precision and unwavering creative dedication with which the Japanese artist developed her work from the 1960s onwards.

We look back on this extraordinary personality with deep fondness and gratitude, and we bid our farewells in her own words:

»Beyond pleasure, they say, death is waiting. Hundreds of millions of years went aimlessly by before I understood. Please understand this emptiness of mine.«*

Nicola von Velsen and the team at Hatje Cantz

*quoted from: Yayoi Kusama, Every Day I Pray for Love. Art and Collected Poetry, (2020 Zwirner Books, p. 176)