Isamu Noguchi, born in1904, was among the most influential sculptors of the twentieth century. Born in Los Angeles to an Irish-American teacher and editor and a Japanese poet, he was raised in Japan until being sent back to the United States to study at age 13. In 1926, Noguchi won one of the first Guggenheim fellowships and travelled to Paris where he worked for six months as a studio assistant to sculptor Constantin Brancusi. In addition to his sculptural work, he created furniture and lighting for the Herman Miller Company, designed sets for choreographers Martha Graham and Georg Balanchine and collaborated with architect Louis I. Kahn, among others.
