About the Author

Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988) was a seminal and critically acclaimed sculptor. Committed to diverse media, his work includes sculpture, gardens, furniture, lighting, ceramics, architecture and set designs. Born in Los Angeles to an Irish-American teacher and editor and a Japanese poet, he was raised in Japan before returning to the United States to study at the age of 13. In 1926 Noguchi won one of the first Guggenheim fellowships and travelled to Paris where he worked for six months as a studio assistant to Constantin Brancusi. His collaborations include furniture for Herman Miller, sets for choreographers Martha Graham and George Balanchine, and playground design with architect Louis I. Kahn. In 1985 Noguchi designed and opened the Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum (now the Noguchi Museum), in Long Island City, New York.