Isamu Noguchi, 1968. Russell Lynes, photographer. Russell Lynes papers, 1935-1986. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988) was among the most innovative American sculptors of the 20th century. His design for “Sculpture to Be Seen from Mars” (1947) anticipates the space age by several decades. Even as he created works that were far ahead of his time, Noguchi frequently found inspiration in ancient art and architecture-from Egyptian pyramids and Buddhist temples to Zen gardens and American Indian burial mounds. “Isamu Noguchi, Archaic/Modern” explores how the ancient world shaped this artist’s vision for the future. The Smithsonian American Art Museum is the sole venue for this exhibition, which is expanded from an earlier installation at The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York.
Isamu Noguchi, Age, 1981, basalt. The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York. Photo by Kevin Noble. © The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York.
Isamu Noguchi, Atomic Haystack, 1982-83, hot-dipped galvanized steel. The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York. Photo by Kevin Noble. © The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York.
“Isamu Noguchi, Archaic/Modern” is on view in the Smithsonian American Art Museum‘s main building from November 11, 2016 through March 19, 2017. Dakin Hart, senior curator at The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York, and Karen Lemmey, curator of sculpture at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, organized the exhibition.
Isamu Noguchi, Lunar Table, 1961-65, granite. The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York. Photo by Kevin Noble. © The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York.
Isamu Noguchi, Magic Mountain, 1984, Mikage granite and wood. The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York. Photo by Kevin Noble. © The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York.
“Isamu Noguchi-born in Los Angeles, raised and educated in Japan, Indiana, New York and Paris-was among the first American artists to think like a citizen of the world,” said Betsy Broun, The Margaret and Terry Stent Director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. “The exhibition is the latest in a series of major shows to examine the contributions of such international artists as Nam June Paik, Christo, Yasuo Kuniyoshi and Tamayo, and their broad perspectives.”
Isamu Noguchi, Pregnant Bird, 1958, Greek marble. The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York. Photo by Kevin Noble. © The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York.
Isamu Noguchi, Black and Blue, 1958-59, fabricated 1979-80, aluminum, electostatic paint and polyurethane paint. The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York. Photo by Kevin Noble. © The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York.
“Isamu Noguchi, Archaic/Modern” brings together 74 works, nearly all on loan from The Noguchi Museum, made during the artist’s six-decade career and reflect Noguchi’s striving for timelessness through the abstraction of things, places and ideas. Featured works-including several monolithic basalt sculptures, fountains, designs for stage sets and playgrounds and floating Akari light sculptures-are organized in themes of particular interest to Noguchi: landscape, invention, the atomic age, outer space and social spaces. Noguchi saw himself as both artist and inventor, and the exhibition devotes special attention to his patented designs, such as “Radio Nurse,” the first baby monitor.
Isamu Noguchi, Grey Sun, 1967, Arni marble, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist. Photo by Gene Young. © The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York.
Isamu Noguchi, Radio Casing (Radio Nurse) Patent, approved March 15, 1938. Patent number Des. 108,837. United States Patent and Trademark Office
“The juxtaposition of the terms ‘archaic’ and ‘modern’ is an attempt to fold space-time in a way that is true to Noguchi’s attempts to make the practice of sculpture an expression of relativity in the modern, Einsteinian sense,” said Hart. “Noguchi exists somewhere in the fusion of these two abstract notions of time, and my hope is that by exhibiting his sculptures in thematic groupings we add to the scope of their meaningfulness and highlight the adaptability of Noguchi’s values to the future.”
Isamu Noguchi, Slide Mantra Maquette, about 1985, Botticino marble. The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York. Photo by Kevin Noble. © The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York.
Isamu Noguchi, Trinity, 1945, fabricated 1988, bronze plate. The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York. Photo by Kevin Noble. © The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York.
“Noguchi’s work-which encompasses tradition and progress, the timeless and the modern-still resonates with contemporary audiences despite being created decades ago,” said Lemmey. “It is particularly wonderful to see the museum’s ‘Grey Sun,’ which was a gift from Noguchi, in this broader context that shows howahead of his times Noguchi was with his unique perspective on global culture.”
Isamu Noguchi, E=MC 2, 1944, papier-mâché. The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York. Photo by Kevin Noble. © The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York.
Public Programs
Hart will present the central ideas of the exhibition in a talk in the museum’s McEvoy Auditorium Thursday, Dec. 1, at 6 p.m. The 21st Century Consort will perform music that accompanied dance performances by modern-dance icons Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham, both of whom collaborated with Noguchi, and other pieces inspired by Noguchi’s modernism Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017; a pre-concert discussion at 4 p.m. is followed by the concert at 5 p.m.
Several Gallery Talks Will Take Place In The Exhibition:
Lemmey will lead a tour Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017, at 5:30 p.m. and Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2017, at 5:30 p.m.
Ariel O’Connor, dancer-turned-objects-conservator at the museum, will discuss materials used by the artist and his collaboration with Graham Tuesday, Nov. 15, at 4 p.m. and Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017, at noon.
The museum will present a series of films about Noguchi, in collaboration with the Smithsonian‘s Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Saturday, Dec. 10, from 3 to 6:30 p.m., including Isamu Noguchi (1972) with Buckminster Fuller and directed by Christian and Michael Blackwood, the avant-garde short Visual Variations on Noguchi (1945) directed by Marie Menken and The Face of Another (1967) directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara.
Details about all the exhibition-related programming are available online at www.americanart.si.edu/calendar.
Martha Graham dons Noguchi’s Spider Dress while standing on his Serpent in the 1946 production, Cave of the Heart, Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Dance Performance by the Martha Graham Dance Company
A ticketed presentation of “Cave of the Heart” by the Martha Graham Dance Company will take place in the museum’s McEvoy Auditorium Friday, March 3, 2017, at 7 p.m. This powerful, one-act performance features a set and costume created by Noguchi that is considered an extension of the dancers’ movements. Tickets for this special opportunity to see Noguchi’s work come alive through dance will be available for purchase online for $30 beginning Jan. 30, 2017, at www.americanart.si.edu/marthagraham. Tickets are non-refundable. Support for this program comes from the Secretary of the Smithsonian and the Smithsonian National Board.
Isamu Noguchi, Table or the Like Patent, approved February 4, 1958. Patent Number Des. 182,037. United States Patent and Trademark Office
The exhibition’s accompanying catalog includes an essay by Hart that traces themes in the artist’s 60-year career-an expansive vision that ranged from landscape art to garden and playground designs, from sculptures featuring planets and outer space to those grappling with the atomic age, and from patented lamps and furniture to modern dance sets and costumes. More than 60 full-color plates highlight the timeless appeal of this thoroughly modern artist. The book, published by the museum in association with D Giles Limited, London, is available in the museum store and online ($45).
“Isamu Noguchi, Archaic/Modern” is organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum in collaboration with The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum and the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Additional generous support has been provided by the Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool of the Smithsonian Institution, Joanne and Richard Brodie Exhibitions Endowment, The Japan Foundation, Japan-United States Friendship Commission, Thelma and Melvin Lenkin, Margery and Edgar Masinter Exhibitions Fund, Nion McEvoy and Leslie Berriman, and Lucy S. Rhame.
The Smithsonian American Art Museum celebrates the vision and creativity of Americans with artworks in all media spanning more than three centuries. Its National Historic Landmark building is located at Eighth and F streets N.W., above the Gallery Place/Chinatown Metrorail station. Museum hours are 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily (closed Dec. 25). Admission is free. Museum information (recorded): (202) 633-7970. Smithsonian information: (202) 633-1000. Website: www.americanart.si.edu.
Filed under: Arts & Culture, Books/Publishing, Culture, Dance, Documentaries, Eco/Earth/Conservation, Education, Film, Fine Arts, Museums & Exhibitions, Music, Performance Art, Tech/Design Tagged: "Isamu Noguchi, Archaic/Modern", Ariel O'Connor,, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool of the Smithsonian Institution, Joanne and Richard Brodie Exhibitions Endowment, The Japan Foundation, Japan-United States Friendship Commission, Thelma and Mel, Betsy Broun,, Buckminster Fuller, Christian and Michael Blackwood, Dakin Hart,, Hiroshi Teshigahara, ISAMU NOGUCHI, Karen Lemmey, Lucy S. Rhame, Marie Menken, Martha Graham Dance Company, Nam June Paik, Christo, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Smithsonian's Freer Gallery of Art, Tamayo,, The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, United States Patent and Trademark Office