“What I wanted was a timely and weightless way of expression.”

Birth & Childhood

1904: Born in Los Angeles to Yone Noguchi and Leonie Gilmore.

Shortly thereafter: Moved to Japan.

Education1918: Moves to Indiana to attend Interlochen.

1922: Graduates from La Porte High School. Apprentices with Gutzon Borglum in Connecticut. Begins at Columbia in the fall.

1924: Enrolls in Leonardo da Vinci School of Art. First exhibit. Withdraws from Columbia.

Early Career

1926: Awarded John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship to study wood and stone sculpture abroad.

Isamu Noguchi with Undine (Nadja),

1925, plaster.

1926- 1928: Paris

Constantin Brancusi, Self-Portrait, c.1933-34.

Isamu Noguchi in his Paris studio, c. 1928

1929: Return to New York

William Douglas sitting for his portrait, New York City, 1936

Miss Expanding Universe,Aluminum 1932

The Artist and the Architect A Friendship of Ideas

Intetra, 1974-76

Octetra, 1968

Buckminster FullerDymaxion House, 1930Dymaxion Car, 1933

Sculpture

In Silence Walking, 1989, white marble

Remembrance, 1944, mahogany.

Sky Gate, 1976-77, painted steel.

1940s: Design workDESIGN INFLUENCES• Japanese design

• Sumi calligrapy • The “Earth Outdoors”• Constantin Brancusi• Buckminster FullerDESIGN CHARACTERISTICS

• Fluidity of line • “Lunar” textures • Geometric and biomorphic forms• Restricted palette: white, grey, black, red … aluminum,

wood, stone.

Interiors

Lunar Voyage, sculpture for stairwell of S.S. Argentina, 1948. Destroyed.

Ceiling for the American Stove Company Building, 1947-48, St. Louis,Missouri.

Lunar ceiling for Time-Life Building, 1947, New York City. Destroyed.

Interiors

Memorial room to Yone Noguchi, 1951-52, Shin Banraisha, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan.

Noguchi's studio on the land of Kitaoji Rosanjin, Kita-Kamakura, Japan, 1952.

Tengoku, 1977-78. Interior garden for

Sogetsu Kaikan, Tokyo, Japan.

Akari light sculpturePhotograph of Noguchi with akari light sculptures in New York Studio, 1960s, courtesy of the Noguchi Museum.

Isamu Noguchi working on an Akari frame at the Ozeki & Company, Gifu, Japan. January 1978.

Akari light sculpture

Early promotional photograph of Akari, 1950s.

Horn akari floor lamp, 1950s.

Play Sculptu

re

Photograph of Noguchi with akari light sculptures in New York Studio, 1960s, courtesy of the Noguchi Museum.

Piedmont Park, Atlanta 1976

Black Slide

Mantra

Tables

Burden table, 1948, laminated white beech wood.

“Rudder" dining table and stools, 1944Herman Miller

Table for A. Conger Goodyear, 1939, rosewood.

Cyclone dining table, 1955

Noguchi Coffee Table

Coffee Table, 1944, glass top and wood baseHerman Miller.

Other Iconic Designs

Rocking stool, 1955. Knoll.

Radio Nurse radiotransmitter, 1937

Freeform Sofa, 1950. Vitra.

Tea Cup and Saucer, 1952. Vitra.

DESIGN CHARACTERISTICS• Fluidity of line • “Lunar” textures • Geometric and biomorphic forms• Restricted palette: white, grey, black, red … aluminum,

wood, stone.

Freeform Sofa, 1950. Vitra.

Akari lamp, 1950s.

Isamu Noguchi 1904- 1988

DESIGN INFLUENCES• Japanese design • Sumi calligrapy • The “Earth Outdoors”• Constantin Brancusi• Buckminster Fuller

Coffee Table, 1944. Herman Miller.

Rudder Stool, 1944. Herman Miller.

Rocking Stool, 1954.

Vitra.

Cyclone Table, 1957.

Prismatic Table, 1957. Vitra.