1. Home
  2. Art + Artists

Grey Sun

  • Isamu Noguchi, Grey Sun, 1967, Arni marble, Smithsonian American Art Museum, © The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York, Gift of the artist, 1969.158

Gallery Label
Believing that sculpture should be "an equivalent for natural forms and forces," Isamu Noguchi explored the sun's vital power in this massive marble. He derived its shape from a millstone, which, "inverted and elevated, becomes a sun-like image." Born in California to an American mother and Japanese father, Noguchi spent most of his childhood in Japan before continuing his education in the American Midwest, New York City, and Paris. This piece reflects his internationalist life and perspective, a blend of the biomorphic abstraction of European surrealism and traditional Japanese stonework.
Publication Label

Believing that sculpture should be "an equivalent for natural forms and forces," Isamu Noguchi explored the sun's vital power in this massive marble. He derived its shape from a millstone which, "inverted and elevated, becomes a sun-like image."

Smithsonian American Art Museum: Commemorative Guide. Nashville, TN: Beckon Books, 2015.

Title
Grey Sun
Artist
Isamu Noguchi
Date
1967
Location
  1. Smithsonian American Art Museum
  2. 3rd Floor
  3. East Wing
Dimensions
40 7/8 x 39 3/8 x 16 7/8 in. (103.8 x 100.0 x 42.8 cm)
Copyright
© The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York
Credit Line

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Gift of the artist

Mediums
marble
Mediums Description
Arni marble
Classifications
Sculpture
Highlights
Art by Asian Americans
Sculpture
Keywords
  • Abstract
Object Number
1969.158
Palette
Linked Open Data URI

Related Books

More Artworks from the Collection