Height x Width: 1 9/16 × 1 1/4 in. (3.97 × 3.18 cm)
Type:
Postage Stamps
Place:
United States of America
Date:
May 18, 2004
Description:
The 37-cent Isamu Noguchi commemorative stamps were issued on May 18, 2004, in Long Island City, New York. Derry Noyes of Washington, DC, designed the stamps.
The stamps honor sculptor Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988) on the 100th anniversary of his birth. Noted for merging Western and Eastern influences, Noguchi expanded the definition of sculpture with creations that ranged from portraiture and abstract sculpture to graceful meditation gardens and sprawling landscapes. Drawing no distinction between art and design, Noguchi also created furniture, theater sets, and other functional objects that demonstrated his desire to make sculpture useful to society.
The pane of twenty stamps features five different works by Noguchi: "Margaret La Farge Osborn," 1937; "Black Sun", 1960-1963; "Mother and Child," 1944-1947; "Figure," 1945; and "Akari 25N," circa 1968.
The selvage features a photograph of Noguchi taken by Eliot Elisofon for publication in 1952. Below the photograph is text reading, "sculptor 1904-1988" and the quotation by Noguchi, "Everything is sculpture. Any material, any idea without hindrance born into space, I consider sculpture."
Ashton-Potter (USA), Ltd., produced 57 million stamps in the offset process.
