Isamu Noguchi (1979)

Isamu Noguchi, like a few artists, may be said to sum up in his life and work the sources and sensibilities that characterize the art of our time. Noguchi, the American sculptor, was born in 1904 in Los Angeles. His father was Japanese, his mother American. As a child, he was taken to Japan where he lived until fourteen; he then returned home to continue his education.

When Noguchi decided to become a sculptor, he studied with the American academic realist, Gutzon Borglum, then later in Paris he worked with the great Rumanian abstract sculptor, Constantin Brancusi. In Paris he also became familiar with the works of Picasso, Giacometti, and Calder.

In the ’30s, Noguchi pursued both lines of artistic mission, supporting himself by accepting commissions, also during which he was exploring abstraction. Also during the ’30s, he traveled extensively through the Far East. In China, he studied calligraphy and in Japan, he learned the aesthetics and practice of Japanese ceramic and garden design.

Condition: very good in slightly worn dust-wrapper