ISAMU NOGUCHI MUSEUM
- Isamu Noguchi
9-01 33rd Rd, Queens, NY 11106
Isamu Noguchi (1904–1988) spent his lifetime experimenting with sculptures, gardens, furniture and lighting designs, ceramics, architecture, and set designs, as well as utilized a wide range of materials. He travelled extensively throughout his life, and incorporated the impressions from his travels into his work.

Noguchi was born in Los Angeles, California, to an American mother and a Japanese father, and he lived in Japan until the age of thirteen. He studied pre-medicine at Columbia University in New York City, and took evening sculpture classes. He left university to become an academic sculptor, and eventually went to Paris in 1927 to work in Brancusi’s studio.

Noguchi became well-known in the US around 1940. Noguchi’s first retrospective in the United States was in 1968 at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, and in 1986, he represented the United States at the Venice Biennale.

The Noguchi Museum was founded and designed by Isamu Noguchi in 1985 for the display of what he considered to be representative examples of his life’s work. Located in a 1920s industrial building across the street from where the artist had established a studio in 1960, it has a serene outdoor sculpture garden, and galleries that display Noguchi’s work, along with photographs, drawings, and models from his career.

Located on Long Island City, this is one of our ultimate all-time favorite places to visit over and over again, especially when New York City life feels overwhelming.