Join us on Zoom for a talk by Alex Ross, Managing Editor of The Isamu Noguchi Catalogue Raisonné, exploring Isamu Noguchi’s work created through his involvement with New York café society in the 1930s.

During the years following the end of Prohibition, people from all walks of New York society mingled more freely than ever before in the city’s many fashionable nightclubs and restaurants. Noguchi moved easily between these converging social, artistic, and cultural circles, creating portraits of many prominent figures of café society, and even designing the interior for Chez Firehouse, an avant-garde nightclub built in the basement of an abandoned church in midtown Manhattan. 

Ross will present recent research into this often overlooked period of Noguchi’s work, and how Chez Firehouse and the portraits Noguchi sculpted of café society connect him and his artistic practice to the zeitgeist of this fascinating period.

The lecture will last approximately 45 minutes, with time afterwards for questions and comments. Live closed captioning is provided. Program times listed are ET (Eastern Time). Please send any questions to events@noguchi.org.