Yayoi Kusama, the celebrated Japanese artist renowned for her exploration of repetition and infinity, died on August 14 at the age of 97 in a Tokyo hospital. Kusama continued to paint until shortly before her passing, leaving behind a vast and varied body of work that spans more than seven decades. Her death presents a definitive endpoint to a career that had long seemed to extend indefinitely, raising questions about rarity and scarcity in the art market.

Less than a month after Kusama’s death, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam opened a comprehensive retrospective of her work on September 11, displaying pieces from her early drawings and radical New York period through to recent paintings created in her Tokyo studio. The exhibition, scheduled to run until mid-January, was planned in close collaboration with Kusama and her studio prior to her passing. Museum curator Leontine Coelewij noted that while the timing was coincidental, Kusama’s death inevitably alters how viewers engage with the exhibition, transforming it from a career still in progress into a view of a complete artistic legacy.

Kusama’s oeuvre encompasses a broad spectrum of media and motifs, including paintings, sculptures, installations, ceramics, poetry, fashion, and collages. The Stedelijk show emphasizes both a chronological and thematic approach, exposing visitors to lesser-known facets of her practice alongside her more iconic works, such as the immersive mirrored environments and polka-dot patterns. Coelewij highlighted the importance of including these diverse elements to present a fuller understanding of Kusama’s artistic evolution.

The artist’s passing also influences the dynamics of the Kusama art market, which already encompassed a wide range of works differentiated by medium, rarity, and availability. While Kusama prints continue to circulate regularly, unique early paintings—such as her 1959 "Untitled (Nets)"—command significantly higher prices. For example, that particular painting sold at auction in New York in 2022 for approximately $10.5 million. Large-scale installations, often held by museums, remain largely inaccessible to private collectors, reinforcing a hierarchy in scarcity and market value.

Experts caution against viewing Kusama’s death as an immediate catalyst for uniform price increases across all categories. Arun Kakar, senior art market editor at Artsy, noted that museums and exhibitions have long played a role in shaping the reception and valuation of Kusama’s work, and that sustained scholarly attention and institutional recognition are more influential than the anniversary of her death alone. He observed that the fixed total supply of Kusama works posthumously does not automatically translate into market scarcity, as availability can fluctuate with owners’ decisions to retain or sell pieces.

Institutions, by acquiring significant works and promoting exhibitions, can both enhance scarcity in the market and deepen public understanding of an artist’s oeuvre. The Stedelijk, for example, owns Kusama’s 1963 installation "Graption: One Thousand Boats Show," a pivotal piece on loan at the retrospective, illustrating how museum collections can increase public access to certain works even as they reduce their availability for purchase.

Kusama’s art consistently grappled with the concept of infinity through accumulation and repetition, yet her death confines that infinite exploration to a finite body of work. As collectors, museums, and scholars continue to assess and reframe Kusama’s legacy, distinctions in rarity and significance will likely evolve gradually, spotlighting lesser-known aspects of her practice beyond the signature pumpkins, dots, and mirrored rooms that have cemented her status as a global cultural icon.