Isamu Noguchi was born in Los Angeles in 1904. His father, Yone Noguchi, was a Japanese poet and his mother, Leonie Gilmore, an American writer. Raised in Japan until 1918, Noguchi then attended high school in Indiana. After graduating in 1922, he attended a pre-med program at Columbia University in New York City, where he also enrolled at Leonardo da Vinci Art School. He quickly mastered traditional sculpture and soon exhibited his work at the National Academy of Design and Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

Throughout his career, Noguchi strived to expand the role of the sculptor. In addition to working with an extremely imaginative range of materials-including wood, stone, marble, steel, bamboo, paper and even water-he also created works on an ever-increasing scale, including gardens that were inspired by Japanese tradition, but clearly marked by Western influence.

In addition to gardens, Noguchi also designed building interiors, courtyards and large-scale landscapes around the world. He created two monumental concrete bridge railings for Peace Park in Hiroshima, Japan, and his prominent corporate commissions in the United States included courtyards for Connecticut General Life Insurance Company (now CIGNA) in Bloomfield, CT; two symbolic gardens for IBM headquarters In Armonk, NY; and the Horace E. Dodge Fountain, a Detroit landmark that uses water as a prominent sculptural element.

Fascinated by the theater, Noguchi designed stage sets for renowned choreographer Martha Graham, a collaboration that began in 1935 and continued until the late 1960s. He also created sets and costumes for other choreographers, including George Balanchine, and designed the set for the Royal Shakespeare Company production of King Lear in 1955.

Noguchi received numerous honors throughout his career, especially during his later years. In 1986 he represented the United States in the Biennale, a prestigious art exhibition in Venice, and in 1987 he was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Ronald Reagan. In 1988 he received the Award for Distinction in Sculpture from the Sculpture Center in New York and the Third Order of the Sacred Treasure in Japan. Isamu Noguchi died December 30, 1988.