A legend in the world of art and design, Isamu Noguchi (1904–1988) was one of the most important artists of the 20th century. Known for his serene sculpture gardens, landscaped with large carved-granite sculptures, Noguchi’s career spanned almost eight decades, working in New York, Japan, and Paris in Brancusi’s studio. In 1960, he anchored himself and his studio in Long Island City, New York, a space he later converted into a museum to house his colossal sculptures and rare unexhibited collections.

“It’s still the only museum in the United States founded by an artist, specifically to show his own work,” said Dakin Hart, Senior Curator of the Noguchi Museum.

The ground floor of 27,000-square-foot museum houses Noguchi’s permanent collection of stone sculptures, showing his transition from marble to hard stones during his experience in Japan after he ended his Italian period in the early 1970s. Most of the works seen in this space are as Noguchi left them prior to his departure. One the second floor, Hart has curated a special exhibition, “Noguchi Archaic / Noguchi Modern,” showcasing more than 65 sculptures, design objects, and works on paper inspired by the Stone Age and Atomic Era, during and after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Many of the works are being exhibited for the first time, such as “Four Atomic Haystacks,” a tryptic sculpture of galvanized steel and bronze, and “Okame (Atomic Man),” an iron mask influenced by a Japanese theatre mask.

The latest exhibition “Isamu Noguchi, Patent Holder: Designing the World of Tomorrow” surveys sculptural and design works leading up to the 1939 World's Fair. From designed cases for an interval clock to proposed models like "Bolt of Lightning" and "Memorial for Ben Franklin," the exhibit exemplifies Noguchi’s versatility as an industrialist and inventor, alongside his timeless achievements with over thirteen U.S. patents.

“A Noguchi gives back as much as you put into it.” said Hart. “As close as you get to it and as finely as you interrogate it, it stands up to that.”