ISAMU NOGUCHI (1904-1988) - COLLECTION CHRISTOPHE MAGNAN Akari BB3-L5, model created in [1976], from the Akari series begun in [1951], our work from the 1st edition, hand-crafted by the Japanese company Ozeki in Gifu. Floor lamp. Washi paper glued to bamboo strands. The base in bamboo, black lacquered metal and cast iron. Early edition. Marked with a red stamp (The Sun and Moon; round and crescent) and located JAPAN near the top of the shade. H.165 cm - L.54 cm Provenance : Christophe Magnan Collection. Archives and related works : The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York - An identical model reproduced on a photograph in the collections of this institution under code 03482; L5 suspensions reproduced under codes 03166, 03480, 03481, 151399, 151400, 153396 and 153398. Related exhibitions and works: - Fire & Water: Paper As Art: The Visionary's Tool for Transformation - New York, West Nyack, Rockland Center for the Arts (RoCA), March 30 - May 5, 1980. An L5 suspension exhibited at this event. - Space of Akari & Stone - Tokyo, Yurakucho Art Forum, Seibu Museum of Art, February 9 to February 20, 1985. An identical model, with a base variant, exhibited at this event. Bibliography : - AKARI Light Sculpture by Isamu Noguchi - Ozeki and Co. trade catalog, Tokyo, circa 1988. An identical model, with a base variation, is reproduced on page 20. - Fire & Water: Paper As Art: The Visionary's Tool for Transformation - Catalogue of the exhibition held at the Rockland Center for the Arts (RoCA), West Nyack, New York (March 30 - May 5, 1980), Museum Editions, New York, 1980. An L5 suspension reproduced in the catalog (unpaginated). - Collective - Isamu Noguchi: Space of Akari & Stone - Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 1985. An identical model, with a base variation, reproduced on pages 20 (detail), 22, 30, and 46 (detail). Christophe Magnan: his encounter with Isamu Noguchi's Akari, as seen by himself I acquired my first Akari in the late 1990s. My frequent trips to the Saint-Ouen flea market had overcome my ignorance, and the discovery of this "magic lantern" created a sense of wonder that has never left me since. I went home sure I'd unearthed another treasure, but it wasn't until nightfall that I discovered the full magic of the Akari: that perfect diffusion of light that keeps in suspense that magical moment that has no name, that tiny second when day and night pass the baton, that furtive moment when yesterday still hesitates to become tomorrow. Since then, I've been lucky enough to acquire many models, first as a collector and then as a gallery owner. And so it was that I went from being a simple admirer of the Akari to a great enthusiast of Isamu Noguchi's work. Like many Europeans, my knowledge of Noguchi's work was limited to his IN50 coffee table and a vague perception of a series of Japanese lanterns brought up to date. This was to forget the diversity and amplitude of the talent of this polymorphous artist: one of the greatest sculptors of the 20th century, landscape artist, architect, draughtsman, ceramist, decorator, designer... His modes of expression seem limitless and always mastered to perfection. When I set up the WA gallery in 2018, my aim was to bring together the works of Japanese, French and American designers who, beyond time and borders, share the same culture of purity, a constituent of both traditional Japanese arts and the "Modern Movement". Who better than Isamu Noguchi to embody this echo between two shores, this bridge stretched between styles, centuries and continents? Who better than him and his Akari to symbolize the excellence that distinguishes art from craft, the perfect symbiosis between the visionary genius of the artist and the age-old know-how of the Ozeki's "little hands"? Christophe Magnan