This long awaited new edition of Isamu Noguchi’s 1968 autobiography still remains the most comprehensive statement about the artist's work.
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Look for these recommended books to learn more about the life and work of Isamu Noguchi.
Biographies and Monographs
A seminal collection of works selected by Noguchi. This book is illustrated, and perhaps most importantly, presented in his own words. The full tale of Noguchi's profound American duality is revealed and amplified. Here is an extraordinary view of the essence of Isamu Noguchi.
122 pages of color photographs of Noguchi's Garden Museum in Japan. Includes essays by Noguchi, Dore Ashton and others in both Japanese and English. Also features chronology, a brief history of the museum with maps, and a list of exhibitions and completed works.
Factually dense and lyrically written with presentations of many Duus’ vivid biography is a significant contribution to the literature on the life of Isamu Noguchi.
Primarily focuses on Noguchi's collaboration with Martha Graham and other well known choreographers. Narrates the story of the dance and Noguchi's creative process, with photographs of 37 different set designs.
This series of essays by 54 friends and colleagues of Noguchi's, including Yoshi Taniguchi, Thomas Messer, Issey Miyake, and Kenzo Tange, was published to commemorate the opening of the Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum in Japan. Bilingual in English and Japanese.
A volume on the life and work of Noguchi compiled by Bruce Altshuler, the former Director of the Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum. Provides a comprehensive chronology.
Noguchi discusses art, sculpture, dance, theater and his numerous collaborations.
Written by Noguchi's friend and art critic Dore Ashton. Follows Noguchi's struggle to reconcile his dual heritage in his artistic practice. Also discusses his personal relationships in theater and the visual arts.
Children and Young Adults
An illustrated children's book about the making of Martha Graham's dance, Appalachian Spring, with its set designed by Noguchi.
An illustrated children's book about Noguchi's childhood years in Japan. Deals with themes of the artist's struggle with his bi-racial identity and the development of his style, blending East and West.
A concise biography on Noguchi for young adults, including a chronology and a list of public collections.
Exhibition Catalogues
This catalogue illuminates Noguchi's friendships, mentorships and collaborations in celebration of the artist's experimentations and influences. Included are artists Gutzon Borglum, Constatin Brancusi, and Arshile Gorky, choreographers Martha Graham, Erick Hawkins, and Merce Cunningham, and important figures such as Buckminster Fuller, Florence Knoll and George Nelson, among others.
Published in conjunction with the first major exhbition of Noguchi's work in Greece, this catalogue explores Noguchi's life and work, inluding his travels in Greece, work in marble and stone, and the themes of mythology in his sculpture and work for the stage. Includes a chronology and bibliography.
This exhibition catalogue discusses Noguchi's collaboration with Isamu Kenmochi and their contributions to modern design. Includes a detailed chronologies of the lives of Noguchi and Kenmochi and the production of Akari lamps.
Features essays on the history of the Cullen Sculpture Garden at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and its creator, Isamu Noguchi. Discusses all 23 sculptures in the garden.
In this extensive essay, Fletcher examines Noguchi’s use of many different materials and explores the reasons underlying his diverse practice. She seeks to dispel the previous limited interpretations of Isamu Noguchi as a Japanese American artist, instead redefining him as one of the truly global artists of the modern era.
Written by Professor of Architecture at UC Berkeley Marc Treib, this book focuses on Noguchi's work on the Unesco Garden in Paris and its influences.
A study of Noguchi's ceramics and post-war Japanese ceramicists who were inspired by or collaborated with him.
Catalogue for the 2002 exhibition of Noguchi sculptures featuring a Zen aesthetic, most of which he created during the last twenty years of his life.
A catalogue documenting the exhibition of 75 of Noguchi's works. This book demonstrates the diversity of his oeuvre, including his set designs, furniture designs, and environmental sculpture.
Catalogue for the 2001 exhibition of twenty Noguchi works shipped from his former studio in Japan. Includes photographs and statements on Noguchi's work in granite, basalt and andesite.
A comprehensive study of more than 75 of Noguchi's public works. This volume discusses Noguchi's collaboration with Martha Graham and Buckminster Fuller.



