Abstract
Japanese in the U.S., American in Japan, a modernist in search of the timeless essence of sculpture, Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988) entered the field of the garden with the 1956 commission from Marcel Breuer for the permanent headquarters of Unesco in Paris. The commission led the artist to the island of Shikoku in search of the stones needed for his project, where he later established one of his studios, now one of two "garden museums" devoted to his work. Le Jardin japonais de l'Unesco examines the relationship between 19th-century French Japonism, especially in the theory and art of gardens, the post-war "international style" and a "neo-Japanism" associated with the development of international organizations and cultural relations.
