Honolulu Museum of Art Receives 22-Work Gift Including Its First Yayoi Kusama Pieces

The Honolulu Museum of Art has received 22 works from collector Fredrica Cassiday, including two works by Yayoi Kusama. The gift gives the museum its first works by the Japanese artist, and one of the Kusama pieces is scheduled to go on view in September.

The work identified for display is Kusama’s ‘Waves I’ (1998), a screenprint from an edition of 30. HoMA’s newsletter lists the impression as number 17/30 and records it as a gift from Cassiday in 2025. The museum has not released a complete list of the 22 works in the gift in the material accompanying the announcement, nor has it identified the second Kusama work.

‘Waves I’ will be presented in ‘Vital Connections: Art and the Brain,’ a HoMA exhibition referenced in the museum’s current programming. The museum’s announcement describes the September presentation as an opportunity to see its first Yayoi Kusama work. No closing date for the Kusama display is given in the available information.

The acquisition adds Kusama to HoMA’s holdings at a time when the museum is highlighting the breadth of its collection through exhibitions, collection stories and guided programming. HoMA’s website describes its collection as “world-class” and offers public access through galleries, tours, collection highlights, a searchable collection and its Library and Archives.

The Honolulu Museum of Art also has a documented focus on Korean art. Its website says the museum was one of the first museums in the United States to have a gallery devoted to Korean art. That area of the collection is being featured in the museum’s September programming, including the Korean Independent Film Showcase ‘Intimate Korea,’ but those film and cultural events are separate from the Cassiday gift.

The museum’s newsletter characterizes Cassiday as a member of its community and says that a forthcoming blog story will discuss her passion for art and her interest in sharing it with Hawai‘i. The announcement gives no further biographical information about the collector and does not specify whether the remaining works are intended for immediate display, study or other collection uses.

Kusama, identified by HoMA as Japanese and born in 1929, is represented in the gift by a 1998 screenprint whose title and edition details are now public. ‘Waves I’ is due to enter view at the Honolulu Museum of Art in September as part of ‘Vital Connections: Art and the Brain.’