Isamu Noguchi

Isamu Noguchi was a sculptor who never quite separated art from the things people use. He worked in stone and bronze, designed gardens and stage sets, and made a handful of objects for the home that carry the same weight as his larger work.

His coffee table, two curved wood legs under a glass top, balances like a piece of carving. The Akari light sculptures, folded from washi paper over bamboo ribs, came from a paper-lantern town in Japan he wanted to keep alive.