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1904-31 | 1932-49 | 1950-61 | 1962-88
This chronology appears in Bruce Altshuler, Isamu Noguchi
(New York: Abbeville Press, 1994), pp.113-116
 Download the complete chronology, 31K
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| 1904 |
November 17 -- Isamu Noguchi born in Los Angeles to Leonie Gilmour, American writer. Isamu's father, Japanese poet Yonejiro (Yone) Noguchi, had returned to Tokyo earlier in the year. |
| 1907 |
Spring -- Leonie takes Isamu with her to Japan, to join Yone in Tokyo. |
| 1910 |
December -- Leonie and Isamu move out of Tokyo to Omori. |
| 1912 |
Leonie and Isamu move to seaside town of Chigasaki. Sister Ailes born. |
| 1913 |
Yone marries his house servant and begins Japanese family. November -- Leonie builds a new home in Chigasaki, and Isamu is semi-apprenticed to the carpenter to help with the project. |
| 1916 |
September -- Isamu taken from Japanese school and sent to Saint Joseph's College in Yokohama. |
| 1917 |
January -- Leonie, Isamu, and Ailes move to Yokohama. |
| 1918 |
Isamu sent alone to Rolling Prairie, Indiana to attend the Interlaken School. School closed for wartime use, and Isamu is befriended by school's founder, Dr. Edward Rumely, who places him in the home of Swedenborgian minister, Dr. Samuel Mack, in La Porte, Indiana. |
| 1922 |
Graduates from La Porte High School as Isamu Gilmour. Dr. Rumely arranges a summer apprenticeship with sculptor Gutzon Borglum in Connecticut, and raises funds for Isamu to begin premedical studies at Columbia University. Fall -- moves to New York and enters Columbia University. |
| 1923 |
Leonie returns to California after 17 years in Japan. |
| 1924 |
Leonie moves to New York, and encourages Isamu to take an evening sculpture class at the Leonardo da Vinci Art School. Head of school Onorio Ruotolo is enthusiastic and gives Isamu his first exhibition after 3 months. Leaves Columbia to devote himself to sculpture. Begins using name of Noguchi instead of Gilmour. Sets up first studio at 127 University Place with assistance from Dr. Rumely. Elected member of National Sculpture Society. |
| 1925-26 |
Exhibits academic figurative sculpture in salons of the National Academy of Design and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art. Creates masks for Michio Ito performance of Yeats's At the Hawk's Well, his first work for the theater. Frequents advanced galleries of modern art, especially Alfred Stieglitz's Intimate Gallery and J.B. Neuman's New Art Circle. November-December 1926 -- sees Brancusi exhibition at Brummer Gallery.
Photo: Undine |
| 1927 |
Awarded John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship for travel to Paris and the East. April -- arrives in Paris. Soon is introduced to Brancusi and works as his assistant each morning for 3-6 months. Draws in the afternoons at Academie Grande Chaumière and Academie Collarosi. Socializes within artists' community that includes Alexander Calder, Morris Kantor, and Stuart Davis. After leaving Brancusi begins first stone and wood sculpture in his own studio in Montparnasse, at 7 rue Belloni (now rue d'Arsonval). |
| 1928 |
Works in Paris on abstract sculptures and abstract gouache drawings. Moves studio to 11 rue Dedouvre, Gentilly. Guggenheim Fellowship is not renewed and returns to New York at end of year.
Photo: Noguchi's Paris Studio |
| 1929 |
Establishes studio on top floor of Carnegie Hall. April -- has first one-person exhibition at Eugene Schoen Gallery, where exhibits Paris abstractions. Meets R. Buckminster Fuller and Martha Graham. Moves studio to Madison Avenue and 29th Street. Supports himself with portrait sculpture, which he will continue to do through the next decade. |
| 1930 |
January-February -- exhibits portrait sculpture in New York, and travels with Buckminster Fuller to Cambridge, Mass. and to Chicago on an exhibition-lecture tour. April -- returns to Paris for two months. Travels via Moscow to Peking. Remains in Peking for seven months, where studies ink brush technique with Chi Pai-shih, creating large series of figurative brush paintings.
Photo: Peking Brush Painting |
| 1931 |
March -- arrives in Japan to a difficult reunion with his father. Befriended by his uncle Totaro Takagi. Travels to Kyoto, where first sees Zen gardens and ancient Haniwa sculpture. Works in pottery of Jinmatsu Uno. September -- exhibits ceramic sculptures at 18th Nikaten Exhibition, Tokyo. October -- returns to New York. November -- Ruth Parks acquired by Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.
Photo: Uncle Takagi |
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