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Photography by Dwight Primiano

Lunar Landscape

“The memory of Arizona was like that of the moon, a moonscape of the mind.”

––Isamu Noguchi

Isamu Noguchi started creating sculptures with integrated light sources––what he called Lunars––after entering a Japanese American internment camp in Poston, Arizona. In Lunar Landscape, cork spheres on fishing lines are reminiscent of moons hanging over a rounded landscape, while colorful lights glowing from within serve as symbols of hope and freedom.

ArtistIsamu Noguchi, 1904–1988
Date1943
MediumMagnesite cement, electric lights, colored acetate sheets, cork, and string
Dimensions35 x 25 1/4 x 7 in. (88.9 x 64.1 x 17.8 cm)
Signedverso: Isamu 1943
Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2006.101
ClassificationSculpture
Provenanceto Alexander Tatti; to Steven Tatti (his son), New York, NY; purchased by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR, 2006
On ViewNo
Lunar Landscape35 × 25.3 in.Tennis Ball2.7 in. diameter

This artwork's face covers about 121× the area of a tennis ball.Drawn to the same scale.