Saturday August 13, 2022; 4:41 PM EDT
- On a recent road trip, we reached as far east as Astoria, Queens. By car from Indiana to Manhattan, and the next day by subway, cross-town bus, and ferry to Astoria, then on foot for a few minutes to the Noguchi museum, which is devoted to the works of the Isamu Noguchi.#
- I knew of his career only a little, and much of that little I had already forgotten. I held onto one impression, which was that he was able to use rough and finely polished stone, in abstract shapes, to evoke very quiet, subtle, tender moods. I wanted to see more works, but I have rarely run across any in American museums.#
- In the Noguchi Museum, there are dozens of works. The first floor and the garden include larger works that I think may stay in a fairly stable set of displays, and the upper rooms rotate in and out a larger number of works from the collection.#
- My impression on that visit was that Noguchi was one of those artists who could tempt you to see physical shapes, lines, and textures very freshly. If you are interested in visual arts, he offers ways to notice things freshly. If you want to make an interesting photograph, say, with lively shapes or textures, he refreshes the world for you. That was my impression on a walk through the Noguchi Museum. If I lived nearby, I would visit regularly.#