Noguchi and Hasegawa / Postwar Japan

Changing and Unchanging Things: Noguchi and Hasegawa in Postwar Japan

at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco 

The exhibition explores the work and friendship of artists Isamu Noguchi (1904–1988) and Saburo Hasegawa (1906–1957). 

U.S.-born sculptor and designer Isamu Noguchi (1904–1988) and Japanese painter, theorist and teacher Saburo Hasegawa (1906–1957) both reacted to the catastrophic effects of the war by questioning how art could balance tradition and modernity, Japanese culture and foreign influences, past and present. They were both committed to modernist practices, such as the removal of the inessential, truth to materials and a utopian belief of the power of art to improve society, but felt that modernism needed a new direction, one that could be provided by a deep exploration of Japanese art and design. Together, they visited historic gardens, palaces and temples around Kyoto to immerse themselves in traditional Japanese culture. 

Image: Hasegawa and Noguchi on the veranda at Shishendo Temple, Kyoto, photographed by Michio Noguchi, 1950. © The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York / ARS via Asian Art Museum

Here is a photo of one the sculptures above at Noguchi's 10th Street Studio, Long Island City, Queens. The photo is part of the Isamu Noguchi Archive, which was recently updated. It's an incredible resource.