“The art of stone in a Japanese garden is that of placement. Its ideal does not deviate from that of nature… But I am also a sculptor of the West. I place my mark and do not hide.”
Noguchi Coffee Table for Herman Miller
“To limit yourself to a particular style may make you an expert of that particular viewpoint or school, but I do not wish to belong to any school,” he said. “I am always learning, always discovering.”
Thank you HapaMama for this great children’s book recommendation on Isamu Noguchi.
The East-West House: Noguchi’s Childhood in Japan by Christy Hale
“Isamu Noguchi was born Isamu Gilmour in Los Angeles in 1904 to Leonie Gilmour, an Irish-American teacher and editor, and Yone Noguchi, a Japanese poet. It is the cultural divide between his parents, between East and West, between two distinct histories of art and thought, that would engage him his entire life. In 1906, Noguchi’s mother took him to Japan, where he attended Japanese and Jesuit schools. While in Japan, Noguchi gained an appreciation for its landscape, architecture and craftsmanship. Later his mother sent him to Indiana to attend a progressive boarding school she had read about in a magazine.
After high school Noguchi enrolled in Columbia University to study medicine, while at the same time taking sculpture classes on the Lower East Side. It wasn’t long before he realized that art, not medicine, was his true calling. He left school and found a studio where he could sculpt full-time.” from PBS
image from Modernica Blog. Finn Juhl ‘Pelian Chairs’ with Noguchi Coffee Table photo by Eric Laignel
image from Modernica Blog. Noguchi Coffee Table Photographs by Dominique Marc Wehrli.
image from Modernica Blog
Inspired to try a Noguchi piece in your house? Here are some reasonably priced reproductions.
Noguchi Coffee Table in ebony.
Noguchi Coffee Table in natural.
Noguchi Coffee Table in red.
Noguchi Dining Table in white.
Noguchi Dining Table in white.
Noguchi Dining Table in white.
Noguchi Dining Table in black.
There’s an excellent children’s picture book about the Noguchi’s childhood, the prejudice he faced in Japan being mixed-race, and how he became a designer. It’s called the East-West House: Noguchi’s Childhood in Japan by Christy Hale: http://hapamama.com/2011/06/the-east-west-house-and-interview-with-author-christy-hale/
To HapaMama,
Thanks so much for the great book rec. Adding it right now!