Paris and Brancusi (1927-1929)

Discontent with academic sculpture, Isamu Noguchi's ambitions were transformed in December 1926 by an exhibition of abstract sculpture by Constantin Brancusi at the Brummer Gallery in New York City. Noguchi applied for and was awarded a three-year Guggenheim Fellowship to study modern sculpture in Paris, to be followed by work in India, China and Japan. Soon after arriving in Paris in March 1927 he became an assistant to Brancusi, who taught Noguchi to carve wood and stone. He also drew from the model in the academies, and after leaving Brancusi in late 1927 he established his own studio and created a significant body of abstract drawings and sculpture. Using both geometric and organic imagery, Noguchi made works of bent metal, wood and stone, and experimented with kinetic and neon sculpture. After two years in Paris his fellowship was not renewed, and he returned to New York in early 1929.

Essay on Noguchi's Paris abstraction  | Noguchi on Brancusi  | Chronology