Currently not on view

Funny Face,
1976–77

Isamu Noguchi, 1904–1988; born Los Angeles, CA; died New York, NY

y1977-87

Throughout his long career, Noguchi periodically returned to the lyrical style of abstract sculpture with biomorphic forms he developed as an apprentice in the Paris studio of Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi between 1927 and 1929. Here, a rounded, pinkish piece of marble is slotted through a flat, white, ovular piece, which the title suggests might resemble a funny face, possibly a smile with a protruding tongue. When viewed from another angle, however, the sculpture becomes a meditation on the delicate balance of two forms. The reflective black plinth elicits contemplation of a duality as well, mirroring the stone balanced on its surface in reverse, confounding the division between the sculpture and its base.

Information

Title

Funny Face

Dates

1976–77

Maker

Isamu Noguchi

Medium

Marble

Dimensions

18.5 × 22.6 × 19.2 cm (7 5/16 × 8 7/8 × 7 9/16 in.) plinth: 44 × 35 × 2 cm (17 5/16 × 13 3/4 × 13/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of the artist for the William C. Seitz, Graduate School Class of 1955, Memorial Collection

Object Number

y1977-87

Inscription

Inscribed on plinth, top surface, right rear: Isamu Noguchi

Culture

American

Type

sculpture

Materials

marble

Subject

marble, abstraction

Isamu Noguchi, New York, New York, gift; to Princeton University Art Museum, 1977.

"Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1977," <em>Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University</em> 37, no. 1 (1978): p. 28-40., p. 38

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Citation

Isamu Noguchi (1904–1988; born Los Angeles, CA; died New York, NY), Funny Face, 1976–77. Marble; 18.5 × 22.6 × 19.2 cm, 44 × 35 × 2 cm (plinth). Gift of the artist for the William C. Seitz, Graduate School Class of 1955, Memorial Collection (y1977-87) https://artmuseum-beta.princeton.edu/art/collections/objects/32203

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Currently not on view

Funny Face,
1976–77

Information

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Untitled ,
1961

Pierced appliqué plaque: frontal quadriga with Nike charioteer ,
ca. 540–525 B.C.

San Francisco ,
December 2, 1950

Pair of earrings with Maenad heads ,
late 4th–early 2nd century B.C.

Adze handle ,
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Citation

Image Not Available for Download

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Currently not on view

Funny Face, 1976–77

Information

Provenance

Bibliographic Entries

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