Isamu Noguchi (1904–1988) was one of the 20th century’s most important and critically acclaimed sculptors. Through a lifetime of artistic experimentation, he created sculptures, gardens, furniture and lighting designs, ceramics, architecture, landscapes and set designs. His work was at once subtle and bold, traditional and modern. Noguchi’s Akari Light Sculptures are considered icons of modern design. Created by Noguchi beginning in 1951 and handmade for a half century by the original manufacturer in Gifu, Japan, the paper lanterns are a harmonious blend of Japanese handcraft and modernist form. A late March auction at Wright in Chicago, featuring more than 50 lots of early and rare examples, realized $646,721. Noguchi called his works Akari, a term meaning light as illumination, but also implying the idea of weightlessness. With the warm glow of light cast through handmade washi paper on a bamboo frame, Noguchi utilized traditional materials to bring modern design to the home. Like the beauty of falling leaves and the cherry blossom, Noguchi wrote, Akari are “poetic, ephemeral and tentative.”
Photo: Wright
Giacometti chandelier lights up auction. In the 1960s, painter John Craxton saw an interesting-looking bronze chandelier at an antiques store in London. Its six arms were paired like long, straight branches with spiked ends, and a hollow sphere with large, round cutouts dangled underneath. Craxton immediately recognized it as a piece commissioned in the 1940s by art collector Peter Watson, Craxton’s patron early in his career. The chandelier was the work of sculptor Alberto Giacometti, known for his cast metal sculptures of long, thin, exaggerated human forms. Like many 20th-century designers, Giacometti made furniture and decorative arts as well as fine art. Craxton bought the chandelier for £250, equal to about $700 in U.S. dollars, which would be worth a little over $7,000 today. That same chandelier sold at a recent Christie’s auction in London for £2,922,000 (including buyer’s premium)—about $3.5 million!
Dear Lee,
One of the biggest challenges for collectors — other than using restraint at flea markets and antiques markets now that they have started up again! — is how to display your newly purchased treasures. Be careful to preserve your collections and keep the items safe. Be aware, too, of shifting design trends to keep your house from looking “stuffy.”
Displaying your collections can be tricky. Safety, of course, is vital. I had a friend who collected green and pink Depression glassware. He had hundreds of dishes, glasses and serving pieces. He displayed all the glassware in a cabinet with glass shelves in his living room. You guessed it: One day, he heard a tremendous crash. The top glass shelf broke under the weight of too many pieces, and he lost at least three-fourths of his collection. Some insurance policies only cover part of the damage, if that. So, rule No. 1 is to be mindful of the safety of display cabinets. To this day, I don’t trust glass shelves.
Here are some other tips:
I love that color is back in home decoration again. It is a perfect backdrop for any eclectic collection.
Shake off stress and remaining cobwebs of winter by enjoying a burgeoning number of educational programs, lectures and informative internet programs with the nation’s top designers, jewelry artists, architects, museum curators and artists. We’ve selected 7 of our favorite design virtual programs.
Dezeen is an international architecture and design magazine. In addition to links to articles on design and trends on dezeen.com, you will also find links to a series of lectures by respected artists, designers and architects. The 77-day “Virtual Design Festival” (VDF) is better than any trip abroad.
One of the leading design galleries in the world, friedmanbenda.com, is hosting an online lecture series “Design in Dialogue” with many great designers, museum curators and leading voices of the design world. The series is hosted by curator and historian Glenn Adamson. Conversations are held on Zoom for 45 minutes, plus 15-minute participatory question-and-answer sessions beginning at 11 a.m. EST, three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Travel virtually to New York City’s “museum mile” through cooperhewitt.org, part of the Smithsonian Institution. Cooper Hewitt, in the landmark Carnegie Mansion, is America’s design museum. The website allows access to the museum’s exhibitions, education programs, master’s program, publications and online resources. It has an interesting “object of the week” on its website. Be on the lookout for their reopening to see the amazing Willy Smith exhibition.
Google Arts & Culture app, has direct links to 2,000 museums from 80 countries. If you’ve dreamed about going somewhere, just open this “door.”
Enjoy a lecture about Italian Radical Design from the Houston Museum of Arts hosted by R & Company, featuring Cindi Strauss, curator, and James Zematis discussing the exhibition and the generous donation of Dennis Freedman.
The Jewelry Library, jewelrylibrary.com, is a great website that is curated by jewelry people for jewelry people. It features rotating collections and allows visitors to read about unique artists and page through books on jewelry.
The Brooklyn Museum, brooklynmuseum.org, has a series of lectures, “Courageous Conversations,” on various exhibitions at the museums, as well as interesting subjects. Its experts also host virtual tours every Sunday on Tumblr.
Urano Palma, Armchair, from the Diapositive series, c. 1970–74, wood, possibly silk, and foam, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Dennis Freedman Collection, Museum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund / Kent Pell, photographer
Photo: Mfah.org
Jewelry at the museum shop
Photo: Jewelrylibrary.com
1992 Tudor Coin Encrusted Table
By Cheryl R. Riley (1952-) founder of Right Angle Designs (1988)
Part of the African American Design exhibit, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
Photo: ArtsAndCulture.Google.com