Isamu Noguchi

Isamu Noguchi ( November 17, 1904 – December 30, 1988) was a prominent Japanese American artist and landscape architect whose artistic career spanned six decades, from the 1920s onward. Known for his sculpture and public works, Noguchi also designed stage sets for various Martha Graham productions, and several mass-produced lamps and furniture pieces, some of which are still manufactured and sold.

Among his furniture work was his collaboration with the Herman Miller company in 1948 when he joined with George Nelson, Paul László and Charles Eames to produce a catalog containing what is often considered to be the most influential body of modern furniture. His work lives on around the world and at the Noguchi Museum in New York City.

Isamu Noguchi was born in Los Angeles, the illegitimate son of Yone Noguchi, a Japanese poet who had gained great acclaim in the United States, and Leonie Gilmour, an American writer who edited much of his work.

Yone had ended his relationship with Gilmour earlier that year, instead planning to marry his true romance, Washington Post reporter Ethel Armes. After proposing to her, Yone left for Japan in late August, settling in Tokyo and awaiting Armes' arrival; their engagement fell through months later when she learned of Leonie and her newborn son.

In 1906, Yone invited Leonie to come to Tokyo with their son. She at first refused, but growing anti-Japanese sentiment following the Russo–Japanese War eventually convinced her to take up Yone's offer. The two departed from San Francisco in March 1907, arriving in Yokohama to meet Yone. Upon arrival, their son was finally given the name Isamu (勇, "courage"). However, Yone had taken a Japanese wife by the time they arrived, and was mostly absent from his son's childhood. After again separating from Yone, Leonie and Isamu moved several times throughout Japan.

In 1912, while the two had settled in Chigasaki, Isamu's half sister, Ailes Gilmour (known today as an early pioneer of the American Modern Dance movement) was born to an unknown father. Here the family had their own house built, a project that Leonie had Isamu "oversee". She also tried to nurture her son's artistic ability during this time, putting him in charge of their garden and apprenticing him to a local carpenter.However, they moved once again in December 1917 to an English-speaking community in Yokohama.

In 1918, Noguchi was sent to the United States for schooling. He attended school in Rolling Prairie, Indiana. After graduation, he left with Dr. Edward Rumely to LaPorte, where he found boarding with a Swedenborgian pastor, Samuel Mack. Noguchi began attending La Porte High School, graduating in 1922.