Noguchi Collection - Designcollectors.com

Noguchi Collection

Cylinder Lamp 1944
The work of the Japanese-American artist and designer
Isamu Noguchi is extraordinarily multi-faceted. In
addition to sculptures, he also created stage sets,
furniture, lighting, interiors, public spaces and gardens.
As a sculptor, he was not only interested in materials
and forms, but also in the spatial effect of objects and
even in the design of space itself. It was his intention
to create artworks with practical and social relevance.
Noguchi's work left a lasting mark on 1950s design.
Prismatic Table 1957
Since 2002, the Vitra Design Museum has produced reeditions
of Noguchi's designs in co-operation with the
Isamu Noguchi Foundation, New York. Several of these
models are represented in the Collection of the Vitra
Design Museum.
Tea Cup 1952
Knife, Fork & Spoon 1952
Coffee Table 1944
Freeform Sofa 1946
Rocking Stools 1954

Cylinder Lamp
The three-legged Cylinder Lamp with its
lampshade made of transparent plastic
and organically shaped wooden legs is
one of Isamu Noguchi’s first lighting
designs. Originally made as a present
for his sister, the luminaire went into
serial production in 1945 and became
a trendsetting and often-copied success.
Prismatic Table
The small Prismatic Table was Noguchi's first furniture
design intended for serial production. Made of bent
aluminium sheeting, it was created for Alcoa (Aluminum
Company of America), who wanted to demonstrate
new applications of its primary product. Noguchi’s own
motivation for this design can be traced to his previous
experimentation with sheet metal (particularly brass
sheeting), which began during his work with Brancusi
in Paris.

Tea Cup | Knife, Fork & Spoon
Although Tea Cup reveals the formal language of modern design,
it is actually based on an ancient Japanese terracotta cup that was
in Noguchi’s possession. With this tea cup and saucer Noguchi
succeeded in creating a sculptural object that in a unique manner
blended western Modernism with the traditional Japanese tea
ceremony. The fork, knife, and tea spoon, which presumably were
created around the same time, demonstrate how Isamu Noguchi
should be seen rather as a sculptor than a designer.
Coffee Table
Noguchi designed the first version of this table, with a glass top resting
on interconnected rosewood supports, for the private residence of MoMA
president A. Conger Goodyear during the 1930s. In a modified design
from 1944, which reflected his preoccupation with sculptural, biomorphic
structures, Noguchi transformed the original idea into a base consisting
of two identical wooden elements, one of which is reversed and pinned
to the other at a right angle. The Coffee Table has been produced for the
US market by Herman Miller since 1947; the Vitra Design Museum began
production for the European market in 2002. It is regarded today as one
of Noguchi’s best-known designs.
Table top with etched signature, rounded edges.

Freeform Sofa
Noguchi’s sculptural idiom gains full expression in this sofa, which clearly
distinguishes itself from other designs of the same period. The sofa and
ottoman seem almost like a greatly enlarged sculpture of flat, rounded
river stones; yet at the same time, their slender organic forms are graceful
and vigorous. Noguchi emphasised this effect with thin, but extremely
comfortable upholstery padding and a choice of cover fabrics in natural
colours.
The Freeform Sofa and companion Ottoman were produced around 1950
in limited number. Today, the few remaining pieces achieve record prices
at auction. Since 2002, the group has been produced by the Vitra Design
Museum as a fully authentic re-edition. The sofa is suitable not only for
use in the living room, but also in lobbies, hotels and retail shops.

Programme features
All measurements in millimetres and inches
Freeform Sofa and Ottoman
Re-edition Vitra Design Museum. Solid wood frame,
upholstered. Removable cover in Soft fabric. Legs are
available optionally in maple, natural finish or walnut
stain, depending on colour of upholstery fabric.
Coffee Table
Vitra Design Museum re-edition. Frame of solid black
ash, walnut or maple. Table top made of 19 mm thick
glass with etched signature, rounded edges.
Prismatic Table
Re-edition Vitra Design Museum. Aluminium corpus,
powder-coated finish in black or white. Also suitable
for outdoor use.
Freeform Sofa
720 28 1 /4” 1300 51 1 /4”
3000 118” 1200 47 1 /4”
710 28”
380 15”
Rocking Stool
Re-edition Vitra Design Museum. Stool in two sizes.
Slightly rounded seat and base elements made of
maple, natural colour or walnut stain. Connecting
element with diagonal struts made of chrome-plated
steel rod.
Soft
Maple
Maple stained
walnut-colour
Tea Cup
Ceramic
Knife, Fork & Spoon
Highly polished stainless steel.
Cylinder Lamp
Plastic, maple legs, stained cherry-colour.
930 36 1 /2”
Black ash Walnut Maple
1280 50 1 /2”
400 15 3 /4”
Coffee Table
410 16 1 /4”
375 14 3 /4”
Prismatic Table
Maple
Maple stained
walnut-colour
Ø 360 Ø14 1 /4” Ø 360 Ø14 1 /4”
425 16 3 /4”
Rocking Stool
250 9 3 /4”
Deviations in colour are
possible due to the printing
process.
400 15 3 /4”
Ø180 Ø7”
Cylinder Lamp

Rocking Stool
During his entire lifetime, Noguchi alternated between
East and West. After returning from Japan in 1954, he
presented the design for a Rocking Stool to US furniture
manufacturer Hans Knoll. Its form evokes the hourglass
shape of African stools. Although Noguchi originally
wanted to make the stool out of polyurethane, a new
plastic, he ultimately decided on a combination of more
traditional materials: wood for the seat and foot, and
chrome-plated steel rods for the central support.

Vitra International AG, Birsfelden, CH | Vitra Ges.m.b.H., Wien, A | NV Vitra Belgium SA, Diegem, B | Vitra AG, Birsfelden, Showroom: Zürich, CH | Vitra koncept, s.r.o., Praha, CZ | Vitra GmbH, Weil am Rhein, Showroom: Frankfurt, D | Vitra
Hispania S.A., Madrid, Showroom: Barcelona, E, Lisboa, P | Vitra, Paris, F | Vitra Ltd., London, GB | Vitra International AG, Budapest, HU | Vitra International AG, Mumbai/Bangalore/New Delhi, IN | Vitra (Nederland) B.V., Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, NL
Vitra Scandinavia AS, Oslo, N | Vitra International AG, Warszawa, PL | Vitra Furniture (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., Shanghai, PRC | Vitra Furniture Pte. Ltd., Singapore | Vitra Inc., New York, Culver City, San Francisco, Chicago, USA | info@vitra.com | www.vitra.com
2008, Art.-Nr. 097 312 20
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