Everything is sculpture. Any material, any idea without hindrance born into space, I consider sculpture.
Isamu Noguchi
Isamu Noguchi was born in Los Angeles in 1904 to Yone Noguchi, a Japanese poet, and Léonie Glimour, an American writer. He began his work as a sculptor in Paris in Brancusi's studio, where he met Alberto Giacometti. In 1932, he moved to New York, working mainly as a sculptor but also designing public spaces, furniture and lighting.
His life was then punctuated by travels and creations between Europe, Asia and America. In 1983, he founded a museum of his sculptures on Long Island. Isamu Noguchi died in 1988.
« En 1951, alors que je me rendais à Hiroshima où je devais présenter les croquis de deux ponts destinés au Parc de la Paix, je fis une halte dans la ville de Gifu pour contempler quelques cormorans qui pêchaient. C’est alors que le maire de cette ville me pria de trouver un moyen de moderniser leur « chochin », des lampions traditionnels servant de décorations. De cette visite impromptue est née l’ « Akari » – qui veut dire la lumière en japonais – et qui est maintenant universellement reconnu comme une forme d’art à part entière. »
The characteristics of Akari are intimately linked to the materials used. Washi paper, made by hand from the inner bark of the mulberry tree, diffuses light in a remarkable way.
Also, the higo, a bamboo frame, can be bent and deformed at will. Fragility and lightness are the inherent qualities of the "Akari" lamps, which seem to unfold and blossom, beyond a material world. The Akari lamps created by Isamu Noguchi between 1951 and 1986 are veritable sculptures of light.
In 1991, Pierre Romanet signed an exclusive distribution and representation agreement for Akari lamps in France with the Noguchi Foundation in New York, marking a decisive step in the company's history.
In 2002 and 2012, Sentou organised two Noguchi exhibitions in its Paris galleries, reissuing many models
