The Noguchi Museum, located in Long Island City, Queens, is housed in a repurposed 1920s red brick industrial building, with an attached concrete pavilion designed and built in the 1980s by Isamu Noguchi (1904–1988) in collaboration with Shoji Sadao (1927–2019). Founded in 1985 by Noguchi to show his life’s work in a context essential to his vision, the two-story Museum contains approximately 27,000 square feet of exhibition space, including a renowned sculpture garden.
Visitors enter through Area 1, the Museum’s indoor/outdoor gallery. Stylistically this space combines characteristics of a loggia, a portico and a peristyle, all varieties of covered, open air spaces auxiliary to a building. Before Noguchi purchased this lot to create the Museum, it housed a service station. The concrete block walls and corrugated steel ceiling reference the industrial history of the space. Noguchi sited his late-career basalt works in this gallery, beginning the Museum’s permanent installation in reverse chronological order.
“The garden area is a continuation of Area 1, as is the rest of the ground floor. The difference comes from the surroundings, the open sky, the plants, and the suitability of scale.”
(Isamu Noguchi, The Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum, New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1987, 37.)
The Museum’s sculpture garden is the culmination of Noguchi’s exploration of Japanese garden design. In addition to his sculptures, Noguchi selected the plantings for the space, each of which are native to Japan, the United States, or both. The range of trees, shrubs, and vines create a reflective space that can be enjoyed in all seasons.
The first floor galleries are dedicated primarily to Noguchi’s work in stone, ranging from his work in marble from the 1960s to the basalt and granite works from the 1980s. As a whole, these permanent installations reflect Noguchi’s own decisions when he curated and installed the galleries in the 1980s.
Archives display, Changing and Unchanging Things: Noguchi and Hasegawa in Postwar Japan, May 1–July 14, 2019
The second floor galleries feature changing exhibitions that draw from the Museum’s collection and Isamu Noguchi’s archive. Highlighting themes from Noguchi’s category-defying practice, as well as providing a platform for related artist projects, the program illuminates his enduring influence.
Located directly above Area 1, the floating galleries (Areas 9 & 10) were so named because they “float directly on the corrugated steel ceiling of the high sculpture space below.” (Isamu Noguchi, The Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum, New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1987, 113.) Featuring a skylight and windows onto Vernon Boulevard and the garden, the space retains “the sensation of floating.” (Ibid.)
The Museum Shop features a display of Noguchi’s Akari light sculptures and furniture, which are available for purchase along with a range of books and objects selected with an emphasis on craftsmanship and handmade design. Read more
The Noguchi Museum, located in Long Island City, Queens, is housed in a repurposed 1920s red brick industrial building, with an attached concrete pavilion designed and built in the 1980s by Isamu Noguchi (1904–1988) in collaboration with Shoji Sadao (1927–2019). Founded in 1985 by Noguchi to show his life’s work in a context essential to his vision, the two-story Museum contains approximately 27,000 square feet of exhibition space, including a renowned sculpture garden.
Visitors enter through Area 1, the Museum’s indoor/outdoor gallery. Stylistically this space combines characteristics of a loggia, a portico and a peristyle, all varieties of covered, open air spaces auxiliary to a building. Before Noguchi purchased this lot to create the Museum, it housed a service station. The concrete block walls and corrugated steel ceiling reference the industrial history of the space. Noguchi sited his late-career basalt works in this gallery, beginning the Museum’s permanent installation in reverse chronological order.
“The garden area is a continuation of Area 1, as is the rest of the ground floor. The difference comes from the surroundings, the open sky, the plants, and the suitability of scale.”
(Isamu Noguchi, The Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum, New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1987, 37.)
The Museum’s sculpture garden is the culmination of Noguchi’s exploration of Japanese garden design. In addition to his sculptures, Noguchi selected the plantings for the space, each of which are native to Japan, the United States, or both. The range of trees, shrubs, and vines create a reflective space that can be enjoyed in all seasons.
The first floor galleries are dedicated primarily to Noguchi’s work in stone, ranging from his work in marble from the 1960s to the basalt and granite works from the 1980s. As a whole, these permanent installations reflect Noguchi’s own decisions when he curated and installed the galleries in the 1980s.
Archives display, Changing and Unchanging Things: Noguchi and Hasegawa in Postwar Japan, May 1–July 14, 2019
The second floor galleries feature changing exhibitions that draw from the Museum’s collection and Isamu Noguchi’s archive. Highlighting themes from Noguchi’s category-defying practice, as well as providing a platform for related artist projects, the program illuminates his enduring influence.
Located directly above Area 1, the floating galleries (Areas 9 & 10) were so named because they “float directly on the corrugated steel ceiling of the high sculpture space below.” (Isamu Noguchi, The Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum, New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1987, 113.) Featuring a skylight and windows onto Vernon Boulevard and the garden, the space retains “the sensation of floating.” (Ibid.)
The Museum Shop features a display of Noguchi’s Akari light sculptures and furniture, which are available for purchase along with a range of books and objects selected with an emphasis on craftsmanship and handmade design. Read more
History of the Noguchi Museum
The Noguchi Museum was the first museum in America to be established by a living artist for the display of their work. Learn more about the Museum’s history and creation here.