Name: Isamu Noguchi '1904-1988', Akari Suspension Model 33N, USA, circa 1970
Brand: Isamu Noguchi
Rating: 4.2 (6 reviews)

Isamu Noguchi '1904-1988', Akari Suspension Model 33N, USA, circa 1970

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About the Item

Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988), Akari Suspension Model 33N, Washi paper, Edition Ozeki & Co, Ltd. With its original box, United States, circa 1970. Measures: 158 x 40 x 40 cm. Isamu Noguchi was born on November 17, 1904, in Los Angeles. His Japanese father was a poet and his American mother a writer. In 1906, the family moved to Japan. He was sent to Indiana for schooling in 1918, and in 1922 he apprenticed to the sculptor Gutzon Borglum in Connecticut. For the next two years, he was a premedical student at Columbia University, New York, and took sculpture classes at the Leonardo da Vinci Art School, also in New York. Noguchi decided to become an artist and left Columbia in 1925. A John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship in 1927 enabled him to go to Paris, where he worked as Constantin Brancusi’s studio assistant. In Paris, he became friendly with Alexander Calder, Stuart Davis, and Jules Pascin. Noguchi returned to New York in 1928 and the following year showed abstract sculpture in his first solo show at the Eugene Schoen Gallery. In 1930, Noguchi traveled in Europe and Asia, studying calligraphy in China and pottery in Japan. In New York during the early 1930s, he associated with Arshile Gorky, John Graham, Chaim Gross, and Moses and Raphael Soyer, and introduced social content into his work. He began to design playgrounds, furniture, and theater decor, executing the first of numerous sets for Martha Graham. During World War II, Noguchi became a political activist and voluntarily spent seven months in 1941–42 at a Japanese-American relocation camp in Arizona. In 1949, he was given a solo show at the Egan Gallery, New York. In Japan in 1950–51, he designed gardens, bridges, and monuments and developed his akari (paper lanterns). He showed at the Stable Gallery, New York, in 1954 and 1959. Noguchi’s first solo show in Paris was held at the Galerie Claude Bernard in 1964. The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, honored him with a major retrospective in 1968. Throughout the 1970s, Noguchi continued to make large outdoor sculpture and fountains. A comprehensive show of his sculpture, theater sets, and environmental works took place in 1978 at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. The Noguchi Museum was founded and designed by the artist in Long Island City, New York, in 1985. Noguchi died on December 30, 1988, in New York.

Creator:
Isamu Noguchi (Artist)
Dimensions:
Height: 62.21 in (158 cm)Width: 15.75 in (40 cm)Depth: 15.75 in (40 cm)
Power Source:
Hardwired
Voltage:
12v
Lampshade:
Included
Style:
Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Paper
Place of Origin:
United States
Period:
20th Century
Date of Manufacture:
circa 1970
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use.
Seller Location:
Nice, FR
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU935733500602

Shop All Isamu Noguchi

Isamu Noguchi

A sculptor, painter, ceramicist and furniture and lighting designer, Isamu Noguchi was one of the most prolific and protean creative forces of the 20th century and a key figure in the development of organic modernism. Noguchi’s sculptures and designs — his chairs and tables as well as his timeless Akari lamp and other lighting fixtures — share a common spirit: one of lyrical abstraction, tempo and flow and harmonious balance.

Noguchi was born in Los Angeles to an American mother and Japanese father, and spent most of his childhood in Japan. He returned to the United States at age 13, went to high school in Indiana and enrolled at Columbia University to study medicine. At the same time, he took night courses in sculpture.

Within three months, Noguchi left college to pursue art full time. Noguchi was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1927 and traveled to Paris to work under Constantin Brancusi. It marked a turning point. Inspired by Brancusi, Noguchi embraced abstraction and began to sculpt in the expressive, rhythmic style that would be the hallmark of his work.

Once back in New York, Noguchi was introduced to design by what would become a lifelong collaboration creating sets for choreographer Martha Graham. His first industrial designs were in Bakelite: the sleek Measured Time kitchen timer created circa 1932, and his famed Zenith Radio Nurse intercom, from 1937.

Ten years later, Herman Miller introduced Noguchi’s now-iconic glass-topped coffee table with an articulated wooden base. His washi paper and bamboo Akari light sculptures, handmade in Japan, debuted in 1951. In the late 1950s, Noguchi designed for Knoll, creating such pieces as his dynamic Cyclone table and rocking stool.

For collectors, Noguchi’s furniture and lighting designs remain his most accessible work — they have the same power and presence that Noguchi brought to his art.

Find vintage Isamu Noguchi floor lamps, table lamps, coffee tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.

Monumental Akari model 70F light sculpture by Isamu Noguchi. The shade is made from handmade washi paper and bamboo ribs with original Noguchi Akari manufactu...

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