Isamu Noguchi was a Japanese American sculptor and landscape architect. He was born in 1904 in Los Angeles and spent part of his childhood in both the US and Japan. He studied art in the US and Europe, winning a Guggenheim fellowship in 1926 to study sculpture abroad. Throughout his career, Noguchi designed various sculptures, gardens, furniture and lighting fixtures that were influenced by Japanese design and artists like Brancusi and Buckminster Fuller. He worked until his death in 1988 at the age of 84.

1. “ What I wanted was a timely and weightless way of expression.”

2. Birth & Childhood 1904: Born in Los Angeles to Yone Noguchi and Leonie Gilmore. Shortly thereafter: Moved to Japan.

3. Education 1918: Moves to Indiana to attend Interlochen. 1922: Graduates from La Porte High School. Apprentices with Gutzon Borglum in Connecticut. Begins at Columbia in the fall. 1924: Enrolls in Leonardo da Vinci School of Art. First exhibit. Withdraws from Columbia.

4. Early Career 1926: Awarded John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship to study wood and stone sculpture abroad. Isamu Noguchi with Undine (Nadja), 1925, plaster.

5. 1926- 1928: Paris Constantin Brancusi, Self-Portrait, c.1933-34. Isamu Noguchi in his Paris studio, c. 1928

6. 1929: Return to New York William Douglas sitting for his portrait, New York City, 1936 Miss Expanding Universe, Aluminum 1932

7. The Artist and the Architect A Friendship of Ideas Intetra, 1974-76 Octetra, 1968 Buckminster Fuller Dymaxion House, 1930 Dymaxion Car, 1933

8. Sculpture In Silence Walking, 1989, white marble Remembrance, 1944, mahogany. Sky Gate, 1976-77, painted steel.

10. Interiors Lunar Voyage, sculpture for stairwell of S.S. Argentina, 1948. Destroyed. Ceiling for the American Stove Company Building, 1947-48, St. Louis,Missouri. Lunar ceiling for Time-Life Building, 1947, New York City. Destroyed.

11. Interiors Memorial room to Yone Noguchi, 1951-52, Shin Banraisha, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan. Noguchi's studio on the land of Kitaoji Rosanjin, Kita-Kamakura, Japan, 1952. Tengoku, 1977-78. Interior garden for Sogetsu Kaikan, Tokyo, Japan.

12. Akari light sculpture Photograph of Noguchi with akari light sculptures in New York Studio, 1960s, courtesy of the Noguchi Museum. Isamu Noguchi working on an Akari frame at the Ozeki & Company, Gifu, Japan. January 1978.

13. Akari light sculpture Early promotional photograph of Akari, 1950s. Horn akari floor lamp, 1950s.

14. Play Sculpture Photograph of Noguchi with akari light sculptures in New York Studio, 1960s, courtesy of the Noguchi Museum. Piedmont Park, Atlanta 1976

15. Black Slide Mantra

16. Tables Burden table, 1948, laminated white beech wood. “ Rudder" dining table and stools, 1944 Herman Miller Table for A. Conger Goodyear, 1939, rosewood. Cyclone dining table, 1955

17. Noguchi Coffee Table Coffee Table, 1944, glass top and wood base Herman Miller.

18. Other Iconic Designs Rocking stool, 1955. Knoll. Radio Nurse radiotransmitter, 1937 Freeform Sofa, 1950. Vitra. Tea Cup and Saucer, 1952. Vitra.