「NEW BOOKS」 Listening to Stone: The Art and Life of Isamu Noguchi

“When facing natural stones, the stones begin to speak to you. If you hear that voice, you just give them a little help.”

“From his childhood spent in Japan, Noguchi knew that the stones arranged in gardens were more important than the plants and trees. Stones are the framework of the garden. In Zen temple gardens, the stones that reveal themselves from the sand raked into patterns are like islands rising from the sea. ‘The Japanese have learned that tranquility is established in the garden through stones,’ Noguchi said in an interview a few months before the opening of the UNESCO Garden. ‘For me as a sculptor, that is a lesson in humility. If the stone is better before I touch it, is there anything I should do?’ This attitude led Noguchi, in the last twenty years of his life, to spend as much time listening to the stones as he did carving them.”

At times challenging, at times merely touching—

Born between an American mother and a Japanese father, a world-renowned 20th-century sculptor who continued to travel between East and West across the Second World War. Drawing on new testimonies from those around him and extensive archival materials, this book traces his tumultuous life while meticulously illuminating not only his ever-changing sculptures but also the creation of works spanning multiple genres—landscapes, gardens, public art, stage sets, furniture, and lighting. The definitive biography of Noguchi. Includes numerous illustrations.

Publisher Misuzu Shobo

Published 2018

Pages: 560

ISBN 9784622086758