Collection
/
Decorative Arts and Design

Lounge Table

Isamu Noguchi

Brooklyn Museum photograph

Object Label

In 1944, Isamu Noguchi designed this low glass-topped table resting on organic-shaped walnut forms. To create it, he returned to the design of a unique object he had made in the late 1930s and revised it for manufacture by the Herman Miller company. Here, transparency is combined with balance, as the top is unfixed and the two support legs hinge at a single point.

Caption

Isamu Noguchi (American, 1904–1988). Lounge Table, Designed 1944; Manufactured 1945. Glass, walnut, Overall: 15 3/4 x 50 x 36 in. (40.0 x 127.0 x 91.4 cm); Glass tabletop: 42 x 44 x 3/4 in. (106.7 x 111.8 x 1.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. H. Lawrence Herring, 76.96a-c. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Gallery

Not on view

Title

Lounge Table

Date

Designed 1944; Manufactured 1945

Geography

Place manufactured: Zeeland, Michigan, United States

Medium

Glass, walnut

Classification

Furniture

Dimensions

Overall: 15 3/4 x 50 x 36 in. (40.0 x 127.0 x 91.4 cm); Glass tabletop: 42 x 44 x 3/4 in. (106.7 x 111.8 x 1.9 cm)

Credit Line

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. H. Lawrence Herring

Accession Number

76.96a-c

Frequent Art Questions

  • I love this but I'm curious what material is woven into it? Glass?

    That's a great question! Those are pieces of colored fiberglass, plastic, with glass fibers strengthening it.
    In the early 1960s, it would have been very unusual to incorporate a synthetic material like fiberglass into a work of art! Here, he contrasts it with natural materials like wood and natural fibers, perhaps jute?
    I also like its placement behind that table by Noguchi which also combines materials and uses organic-looking forms.
    I love woven pieces like that and I completely agree that table is awesome.
    Hallman definitely played a big part in establishing fiber/textile art as a fine art form!
    I like the combinations of paintings and furniture that the curators have installed in that gallery. The Art Deco dressing table and the abstract paintings over/around it are also worth a look, just behind you!
    I saw! Amazing!

Have information?

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Artists and makers

Isamu Noguchi

8 works in the collection

Herman Miller, Inc.

30 works in the collection