Artist Monograph

Isamu Noguchi, American

American, 1904–1988

Medium Breakdown

Medium	Works at MoMA	Share
Other Media	13	48.1%
Sculpture	10	37%
Drawing	3	11.1%
Lithography	1	3.7%

Department Distribution

Department	Works	Share
Painting & Sculpture	14	51.9%
Architecture & Design	10	37%
Drawings & Prints	3	11.1%

Production by Decade

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

Classification Types

Sculpture — 14
Design — 10
Drawing — 3

Physical Scale

Scale bracket	Works	Share
Small (< 30 cm)	3	11.1%
Medium (30–100 cm)	16	59.3%
Large (1–3 m)	8	29.6%

Range: 21.0 cm → 211.8 cm (largest side)

Acquisition Timeline

Year acquired	Works
1941	1
1950	2
1953	1
1955	2
1958	1
1960	2
1964	1
1974	1
1975	2
1977	1
1978	4
1979	1
1983	1
1993	1
1994	2
1996	2
1998	1
2002	1

Currently On View

"MoMA, Floor 5, 509" — 1
"MoMA, Floor 5, 521" — 1

American Contemporaries

Catalogued Works

MoMA — 27 shown

Title	Date	Medium	Dimensions	Department	Credit line
Portrait of My Uncle Sculpture Acc. 244.1950	1931	Terra cotta	22 x 8 1/2 x 9 1/4" (55.9 x 21.6 x 23.5 cm) including base ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Painting & Sculpture	Gift of Edward M. M. Warburg
Radio Nurse Speaker Design Acc. 534.1977	1937	Bakelite resin	8 1/4 × 6 1/2 × 6 1/2" (21 × 16.5 × 16.5 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 16.51 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Architecture & Design	Gift of the designer
Capital Sculpture Acc. 561.1941	1939	Marble	16 x 24 x 24" (40.7 x 61 x 61 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 371.95 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Painting & Sculpture	Gift of Miss Jeanne Reynal
Table Design Acc. 107.1958	c. 1941	Laminated and carved avodire	30 x 41 x 16" (76.2 x 104.1 x 40.6 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Architecture & Design	The Philip L. Goodwin Collection (gift of James L. Goodwin, Henry Sage Goodwin, and Richmond L. Brown)
My Pacific (Polynesian Culture) Sculpture Acc. 824.1996	1942	Driftwood	41 x 21 x 8 1/4" (104.1 x 53.3 x 20.9 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Painting & Sculpture	Florene May Schoenborn Bequest
Coffee Table (model IN-50) Design Acc. 256.2002.a-d	1944	Birch, glass, aluminum dowel	15 5/8 × 50 1/4 × 35 7/8" (39.7 × 127.6 × 91.1 cm) Component (.a): 3/4 × 50 1/4 × 35 7/8" (1.9 × 127.6 × 91.1 cm) Component (.b-c): 14 7/8 × 30 1/2 × 1 1/2" (37.8 × 77.5 × 3.8 cm) Component (.d): 7 13/16 × 9/16" (19.9 × 1.4 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Architecture & Design	Gift of Edgar Smith
Metamorphosis Drawing Acc. 365.1975	1946	Pencil on cut-out-and-pasted graph paper on black construction paper	21 5/8 x 29 5/8" (55.0 x 75.3 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Drawings & Prints	Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Fund
Untitled Drawing Acc. 366.1975	1946	Pencil on cut-out-and-pasted graph paper on black construction paper	21 5/8 x 29 5/8" (55 x 72.5 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Drawings & Prints	Gift of The Lauder Foundation
Work Sheet for Sculpture Drawing Acc. 300.1974	1946	Pencil on cut-out-and-pasted graph paper on black construction paper	21 5/8 x 29 1/4" (54.9 x 74.3 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Drawings & Prints	Gift of Mrs. Lily Auchincloss
Table Lamp Design Acc. 227.1950	1948	Plastic and maple	16 x 7 1/4" (40.6 x 18.4 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 18.40 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Architecture & Design	Gift of Knoll Associates
Apartment Sculpture Acc. 652.1994	Kamakura, 1952	Unglazed Seto red stoneware	37 1/2 x 12 1/4 x 6 3/4" (95.2 x 31.3 x 17 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Painting & Sculpture	Nina and Gordon Bunshaft Bequest
Big Boy Sculpture Acc. 20.1955	Kamakura, 1952	Unglazed Karatsu red stoneware and wood	10 1/2 x 6 7/8 x 4 1/2" (26.5 x 17.4 x 11.4 cm) including base ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Painting & Sculpture	A. Conger Goodyear Fund
Bird C Sculpture Acc. 418.1960	1952-58	Greek marble on wood and painted steel base	22 3/4 x 8 1/2 x 4 3/4" (57.8 x 21.6 x 12.1 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Painting & Sculpture	In memory of Robert Carson, architect (given anonymously)
Even the Centipede Sculpture Acc. 1.1955.a-k	Kamakura, 1952	Unglazed Kasama red stoneware, wood pole, and hemp cord	13' 9 5/8" x 18" (420.6 x 46 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Painting & Sculpture	A. Conger Goodyear Fund
Exhibition of Isamu Noguchi, Museum of Modern Art Kamakura Design Acc. 326.1953	1952	Lithograph	28 3/4 × 21" (73 × 53.3 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Architecture & Design	Gift of the artist
Small Centipede Sculpture Acc. 718.1993.a-b	c. 1952	Unglazed Karatsu red stoneware and wood	15 3/4 x 4 3/4 x 4 3/4" (40 x 12.1 x 12.1 cm) including wood base ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Painting & Sculpture	Gift of Mr. and Mrs. George Heard Hamilton in honor of Richard E. Oldenburg
Rocking Stool Design Acc. 207.1998	1954	Chromed steel and walnut	16 1/2 x 14 1/8" (41.9 x 35.9 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 35.88 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Architecture & Design	Barbara Jakobson Purchase Fund
Okame Sculpture Acc. 653.1994	1956	Iron	12 3/4 x 10 1/4 x 4" (32 x 26.2 x 10 cm) including metal stand ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Painting & Sculpture	Nina and Gordon Bunshaft Bequest
Atomic Head Sculpture Acc. 823.1996	1957	Iron on painted wood base	9 x 7 1/4 x 4 1/4" (22.8 x 18.4 x 10.8 cm), base 14 1/8 x 7 x 5 7/8" (35.9 x 17.8 x 14.9 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Painting & Sculpture	Florene May Schoenborn Bequest
Woman Sculpture Acc. 419.1960	1957	Iron with wood and painted steel base	14 3/8 x 18 1/4 x 8 5/8" (36.5 x 46.3 x 21.9 cm), base 50 7/8 x 18 x 18" (129.2 x 45.7 x 45.7 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 20.87 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Painting & Sculpture	Purchase
Storm Sculpture Acc. 648.1983	1959	Aluminum	47 7/8 x 54 5/8 x 4 7/8" (121.4 x 138.9 x 12.2 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Painting & Sculpture	Gift of Mrs. Wolfgang Schoenborn
Akari Lamp (model JP) Design Acc. 218.1978.a-b	c. 1960	Paper shade and metal stand	Overall: h. 83 3/8" (211.8 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Architecture & Design	Gift of the designer
Mitosis Sculpture Acc. 1241.1979	1962	Bronze	14 1/2 x 22 1/4 x 16 1/2" (36.8 x 56.5 x 41.8 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Painting & Sculpture	James Thrall Soby Bequest
Stone of Spiritual Understanding Sculpture Acc. 574.1964.a-c	1962	Bronze, wood, and steel	52 1/4 x 48 x 16" (132.6 x 121.9 x 40.4 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 66.91 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Painting & Sculpture	Gift of the artist
Akari Floor Lamp (model 2P) Design Acc. 216.1978	c. 1968	Paper shade and metal frame	h. 30" (76.2 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Architecture & Design	Gift of the designer
Akari Floor Lamp (model L2) Design Acc. 219.1978	c. 1975	Paper and metal	66 1/4 x 15 15/16 x 15 15/16" (168.2 x 40.5 x 40.5 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Architecture & Design	Gift of the designer
Akari Floor Lamp (model K4) Design Acc. 220.1978	c. 1977	Silk shade and bamboo stand	Overall: 70 x 16 x 16" (177.8 x 40.6 x 40.6 cm) .a (shade): 42 1/4 x 16 x 16" (107.4 x 40.6 x 40.6 cm) .b (base): h. 70" (177.8 cm), diam. 5 1/2" (14 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Architecture & Design	Gift of the designer