1880–1950: Works from the Collection

26 / 76

Isamu Noguchi. My Pacific (Polynesian Culture). 1942 433

Driftwood, 41 x 21 x 8 1/4" (104.1 x 53.3 x 20.9 cm). Florene May Schoenborn Bequest. © 2026 Estate of Isamu Noguchi / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Curator, Sarah Suzuki: Noguchi often looked to natural materials rather than limiting himself to industrially produced ones. He made a series of sculptures, including My Pacific, using driftwood, much of which he'd collected either in California or in Arizona. Here's the artist, speaking in 1973:

Artist, Isamu Noguchi: I'm always trying to expand the possibility of sculpture and therefore to be tied to one material just merely limits me. It's like being tied to a style or tied to a certain technique. Then you’re limited. You can't do more. To me the essence of sculpture derives very much from the material, you know, the truth of the material.