A weekend with Isamu Noguchi

From New York to Amsterdam

This weekend tip is a special one because whether you’re strolling through New York or spending time in Amsterdam, there’s a beautiful moment of quiet inspiration waiting for you; A weekend with Isamu Noguchi. 

In 2024, leading up to the 40th anniversary of the Noguchi Museum in New York, I came across the exhibition Against Time. From that moment on, it went straight onto my wish list for my next visit to the city. This year, I finally made it, taking an Uber from Brooklyn to Queens, to explore the museum’s serene spaces and timeless works. 

Back home in the Netherlands, I was delighted to find that the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam had just opened its own exhibition dedicated to Isamu Noguchi.

History

Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988) was a Japanese American artist, who created sculptures, designed landscapes and furniture and developed the iconic Akari light sculptures. To be honest those lamps are the reason why I became so interested in Noguchi. I’ve loved them for years!  

More than 40 years ago Noguchi was critical about traditional museums. He felt that the setting and display of his work deserved more than the clinical white walls of the galleries of his time. He dreamed of a place where sculpture could live alongside light air and nature.  

That dream became reality in 1985 opening the first single-artist museum in the US founded by an artist during their lifetime.   

The Museum is housed in a former photoengraving factory which Noguchi purchased back in 1974 for storage and display. Because his sculptures were often large, heavy and difficult to exhibit in temporary settings, he filled the ground floor, garden and “floating galleries” with works in granite, basalt and marble. I especially loved how some of the interior spaces open directly into the garden. On the day I visited it was raining, and somehow that made the experience even more magical.  

Permanent Collection and the Exhibition 

The exhibition Against Time is based on the catalogue The Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum (1987), (primarily located on the second floor of the museum) in which Noguchi explains his different sculptural ideas. In this book, he describes his work in brief, often poetic entries. The catalogue was used to define the works designated as the museum’s permanent collection after Noguchi’s death in 1988 — and now again for Against Time. 

You really get a great impression of Noguchi’s versatility. I never knew he designed a dance platform for Martha Graham, the U.S. Pavilion for Osaka, or even a playground. 

I also found it both remarkable and refreshing that several unrealized designs are included. It’s a reminder that the artistic search has its ups and downs. 

And then, of course, the Akari lamps! I still love them — and now they’re even higher on my wish list. This time, though, I came home with an Akari print (Green Sun), a screen print on washi paper. 

For me, the Akari 10A floor lamp is a FAVORITE. Designed by Isamu Noguchi in 1951, this lamp combines the lightness of bamboo, steel wire, and shoji paper into a design that feels timeless and poetic.

Noguchi in Amsterdam

Attention: In Amsterdam Until October 26th, 2025

Back home in the Netherlands, I was delighted to discover that the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam had just opened an exhibition devoted to Noguchi. It felt like a wonderful continuation of my journey, as if the art had followed me home. 

The Rijksmuseum’s show presents Noguchi’s work in the in the freely accessible Rijksmuseum garden. Inside the museum there is a display of the Akari lamps on the ceiling before the museum shop. So only buy tickets for the museum if you want to visit their permanent collection or one of the other expositions. If you only buy tickets for Noguchi it can be a little disappointing. (there are ceramics in the Asian department)

But to experience Noguchi’s sculptures in person, this is a rare opportunity. His work offers in Amsterdam the same gift: a pause, a breath, and a reminder that beauty often lives in simplicity. 

Practical

New York

• Opening hours: Wednesday-Sunday 11 am-6 pm
• Location: 9-01 33rd Road (at Vernon Boulevard), Long Island City, New York 11106
• Public Transport: N&W trains: Broadway / F train: Queensbridge-21st / 7 train: Vernon-Jackson. Directions from NYC Ferry: Astoria
• Access: Wheelchair friendly. Wheelchair user companion/Autism pass holder companion free
• Admission: General $16, Senior (65+) $6, Students $6 (Free for a lot of categorie visitors, please check here).

Amsterdam

• Exhibition: May 25 – October 26, 2025
• Opening hours: Rijksmuseum gardens
  Open from 9-18 h
• Location: Rijksmuseum Gardens, Museumstraat 1, 1071 XX Amsterdam
• Parking: Museumplein
• Public Transport: Plan your route to the Rijksmuseum using the Public Transport Travel Information service or call the Public Transport Information Line: +31 900 9292.
• Prices and Discounts: Garden free
• Access: The Rijksmusuem gardens are wheelchair accessible
  Guide dogs allowed
• Special: guided tours

Bonus Tips

• The Bloomberg connect app is great to prepare your visit. The landing page (plus App Store/Google Play) is the first QR code.

• The Noguchi Museum explicitly points visitors to its Bloomberg Connects mobile guide on its site, so that second QR is spot-on.

• For the Rijksmuseum: Bloomberg Connects features many Amsterdam museums, but availability can change. I’ve linked the official “Visit” page for the Rijksmuseum in the third QR code.

• More about Amsterdam here
• More about New York beyond Manhattan here

• Coming soon: Interior Inspiration from Isamu Noguchi 

Enjoy a moment of Noguchi; whether in New York, Amsterdam, or simply at home with a soft Akari glow.