Isamu Noguchi
American-Japanese·1904–1988
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Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988) was a Japanese-American sculptor and designer who blurred the line between art, architecture, and landscape design. Born in Los Angeles to a Japanese poet father and an American writer mother, he grew up in Japan before returning to the U.S. as a teenager. He apprenticed briefly with Constantin Brancusi in Paris, an experience that shaped his lifelong devotion to carving and pure form.
Noguchi designed everything from Akari paper lanterns to playgrounds, gardens, and public plazas. His sculptural gardens in UNESCO's Paris headquarters and the Noguchi Museum in Long Island City, Queens, remain among his finest achievements. He worked in stone, metal, wood, and clay with equal confidence. Our collection features works in leading American museums.
Sculptures by Isamu Noguchi
2 sculptures catalogued with museum locations. Browse all sculptures
Museums with Isamu Noguchi's Work
1 museum displays Noguchi's works. Click any museum to see visiting info and the specific works they hold.
About Isamu Noguchi
Noguchi is known for abstract stone and metal sculptures, landscape designs, and his iconic Akari paper light sculptures. He bridged Eastern and Western artistic traditions, treating gardens and public spaces as sculptural forms.
The Noguchi Museum in Long Island City, New York is the definitive collection. Major sculptures are also at MoMA, the Art Institute of Chicago, and in public spaces like Chase Manhattan Plaza.
Yes. His Noguchi coffee table (1947), produced by Herman Miller, is one of the most iconic furniture designs of the 20th century. He also created the Akari series of paper and bamboo light sculptures, still manufactured today.
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