Yayoi Kusama's Tallest Bronze Pumpkin Finds a Home in Nanjing

DEJI Art Museum unveils new public project at Yangshan Lake on September 26

NANJING, JIANGSU, CHINA, September 28, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- A monumental bronze "Pumpkin" (2024) by artist Yayoi Kusama (1929-2026) is now installed beside Yangshan Lake in Nanjing's Xianlin area. The installation was completed Sept. 26, and the sculpture is now on long-term public view. The lakeside setting places one of Kusama's most recognizable forms within the landscape of Nanjing.

The sculpture is now part of the DEJI Art Museum collection and the centerpiece of the museum's public-art project "Pumpkin Among Clouds by the Lake." Measuring 6 meters (19.7 feet) high and 5.5 meters (18 feet) in diameter, it is the tallest bronze pumpkin sculpture of Kusama’s career.

The same work was previously shown at the Round Pond in London's Kensington Gardens from July 9 to Nov. 3, 2024, in a presentation organized by Serpentine. Its arrival in Nanjing gives the sculpture a setting shaped by water, vegetation and the changing seasons.

Kusama’s career encompassed painting, sculpture, installation, performance, film, fiction and poetry, with pumpkins, polka dots and repeated patterns among her best-known motifs. Her interest in pumpkins began in childhood, when her family ran a seed business in Matsumoto, Japan, and she returned to the form throughout her career.

Pumpkins and polka dots appeared throughout Kusama's work. The Nanjing sculpture combines a rounded, segmented form with an all-over field of dots. At monumental scale, the familiar organic shape becomes visible from across the lake while retaining the irregular contours and rhythmic pattern that distinguish Kusama's pumpkins.

The Yangshan Lake site makes movement through the landscape part of the viewing experience. Depending on a visitor's route, terrain and vegetation partly conceal or fully reveal the sculpture. The lake, nearby hills, cloud-shaped buildings and seasonal plant life create a changing frame around the work.

Nanjing is known as one of China's four ancient capitals and as the Ancient Capital of the Six Dynasties. Changjiang Road, often called the city's Museum Mile, links more than a dozen museums and cultural institutions. The Kusama installation adds a contemporary public-art destination in Xianlin, beyond the central museum district.

At DEJI Art Museum's main venue on Museum Mile, the permanent digital exhibition "An Era in Jinling" recreates a historic scroll of Nanjing through an interactive 110-meter display. The venue also presents Kusama's 2008 oil painting Flower in "Nothing Still About Still Lifes: Masterpieces from the World of Flowers Collection," which brings together 140 works by 109 artists. Beeple's museum solo exhibition is currently on view, and the museum is open daily until midnight.

By situating "Pumpkin" beside Yangshan Lake, DEJI Art Museum extends its program beyond the museum walls and into public space. The project gives Kusama's globally recognized pumpkin motif a setting specific to Nanjing, where the work becomes part of the changing landscape and everyday experience of the city.

About DEJI Art Museum
DEJI Art Museum is a nonprofit art institution founded by DEJI Group and based in Nanjing. Its collection, built over nearly three decades, spans ancient Chinese ceramics, calligraphy and painting, Buddhist sculpture, classical furniture, and Chinese and international modern and contemporary art. Since opening at DEJI Plaza in Xinjiekou in 2017, the museum has continued to expand its presence across Nanjing and Jiangsu Province, with new venues under development as part of a broader multi-venue network connecting Nanjing with the world.

Media Contact
DEJI Art Museum
dejiartmuseum@dejicic.com | +86 25 8677 7999 | https://www.dejiart.com/en/

Andy Yan
North Professional Consulting Corp.
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