China And Japan (1930-1931)

Isamu Noguchi's 1927 Guggenheim Fellowship proposal had sketched a three-year program of study in Europe and Asia, and with funds raised through portrait commissions he returned to Paris in the spring of 1930 to begin his journey East. After traveling to Moscow he planned a short visit to China, but a letter from his father asking Isamu not to come to Japan using the name 'Noguchi' caused him to remain in Beijing for seven months. In Beijing Noguchi created dramatic ink brush drawings on large scrolls while studying with the master Ch'i Pai-shih, and he saw the ancient palaces and gardens that prompted a lifelong interest in public spaces as sculptural forms. Despite the parental warning Noguchi traveled to Japan in early 1931, where he was received coolly by his father but treated kindly by his father's brother, Totaro Takagi. After two months in Tokyo Noguchi went to Kyoto, where he created a large number of ceramic sculptures at the pottery of Jinmatsu Uno. It was during Noguchi's five months in Kyoto that he discovered the ancient Haniwa figures and the Zen temple gardens that would become important influences on his work. In September 1931 Noguchi left Japan, to which he did not return for another nineteen years.

Essay on Noguchi's early drawings  |  Chronology