isamu noguchi
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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.
Play Sculptu
re
Photograph of Noguchi with akari light sculptures in New York Studio, 1960s, courtesy of the Noguchi Museum.
Piedmont Park, Atlanta 1976
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
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.