Isamu Noguchi
Lever House
14 September 2026 – 31 August 2027
Dates
14 September 2026 – 31 August 2027
Location
Lever House, 390 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10002
Lever House presents a year-long public presentation of work by Isamu Noguchi (1904–88) across the landmark modernist building at 390 Park Avenue, New York, designed by Gordon Bunshaft (1909–90) in 1952. The exhibition, ‘Isamu Noguchi at Lever House’, is presented in collaboration with White Cube, The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, BGRE and WatermanCLARK.
Installation Views
Isamu Noguchi, Octetra (five-element pyramid), 1965 (2021); and Octetra (one element, inverted), 1965 (2021). Fiberglass reinforced plastic and paint. Collection of The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum. Courtesy of White Cube.
Isamu Noguchi, Octetra (one element, inverted), 1965 (2021). Fiberglass reinforced plastic and paint. Collection of The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum. Courtesy of White Cube.
Isamu Noguchi, Play Sculpture, c.1965-80. Steel and paint. Collection of The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum.
Isamu Noguchi, Magritte’s Stone, 1982-83 (2022). Hot-dipped galvanized steel. Collection of The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum. Courtesy of White Cube.
Isamu Noguchi, Katsura, c. 1968. Miharu granite, stainless steel, wood. Collection of The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum.
Isamu Noguchi, Mountains Forming, 1982-83 (2020). Hot-dipped galvanized steel. Isamu Noguchi, Atomic Haystack, 1982/84 (2022). Bronze plate. Collection of The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum. Courtesy of White Cube.
Isamu Noguchi, Bird B, 1958. Greek marble. Collection of The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum.
Installation view, Isamu Noguchi at Lever House, Lever House, New York, 2026,
‘It is my belief that the place of sculpture in relation to architecture should be as part of a general consideration of space, use, mood, environment, as accents and as meaning.’
Spanning the building’s courtyard, plaza and lobby, the presentation traces the creative dialogue between Noguchi and Bunshaft, focusing on their unrealised efforts to create a sculptural environment for the Lever House courtyard in 1951–52. The project crystallised ideas that would occupy Noguchi for decades: sculpture as landscape, public space as a place for contemplation and play, and the integration of natural materials within modern architecture.
Coinciding with the 75th anniversary of Lever House and Noguchi’s creation of the Akari light sculptures, ‘Isamu Noguchi at Lever House’ features sculptures, models, architectural drawings, and a special presentation of Akari, allowing visitors to reconsider this remarkable collaboration and the many ideas it inspired.
Model of First Proposal for Lever Brothers Building, New York, 1952.
‘The essence of sculpture is for me the perception of space, the continuum of our existence.’
Model of Second Proposal for Lever Brothers Building, New York, 1952.
Available Artworks
Isamu Noguchi
Octetra (one element), 1965 (2021)
Isamu Noguchi
Octetra (one element, inverted), 1965 (2021)
Isamu Noguchi
Octetra (five-element pyramid), 1965 (2021)
Isamu Noguchi
Jack in the Box, 1984 (2022)
Isamu Noguchi
Magritte's Stone, 1982-83 (2022)
Isamu Noguchi
Atomic Haystack, 1982/1984 (2022)
Isamu Noguchi
Space Blot, 1984 (2025)
Isamu Noguchi
Play Sculpture, c.1965-80
Isamu Noguchi
One of the most significant artists of the 20th century, Isamu Noguchi (1904–88) was an idealist whose timeless work blended ancient and modern ideas. An itinerant cultural synthesizer, he consistently rejected categorization and the false dichotomies of his time, espoused globalism and anticipated the social practice of art by several decades.
Visit Artist Page‘We hoped to have sculpture integrated with the total design, including landscape, and Noguchi was the only sculptor that I knew of in the world who had the requisite knowledge of architecture, of plant material, and of space design.’
Plan your visit to ‘Isamu Noguchi at Lever House’
Second Portrait: Isamu Noguchi with Akari light sculptures, 1968. The Noguchi Museum Archives, 03619. © The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS)
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