Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988), American sculptor and designer, was one of the few legitimate heirs to the sculptural tradition begun by Brancusi. His sculptures, fountains and gardens are focal points in many cities in the United States and worldwide.

Isamu Noguchi was born on November 17, 1904, in Los Angeles, California. His father was a Japanese poet and authority on art, his mother an American writer. In 1906 he moved with his family to Japan, where his father married a Japanese woman, and Noguchi remained with his mother until he was 14 years old. In 1918, his mother sent him back to the United States to finish his education. He became an apprentice to Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor of Mount Rushmore, who told Noguchi he was not talented enough to be a sculptor. So Noguchi enrolled as a pre-medical student at Columbia University in 1923.

Prophet of His Age

In 1925, however, Noguchi enrolled at the...