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Akari 5A
Akari 5A
Akari 5A
Akari 5A
Akari 5A
Akari 5A
Akari 5A
Akari 5A
Akari 5A
Akari 5A

Akari 5A

Designed c. 1952
The Akari 5A is among the first Akari light sculptures designed by Isamu Noguchi. It features mulberry bark washi paper, with tight, evenly-spaced bamboo ribbing, and wooden collars (wa). Its distinct form resembles a truncated, inverted cone, with a curve leading to a flared ridge. The top of its three-legged metal frame is accented with wrapped bamboo.
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5A
23
11
5AD
23
11
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From the Archives
In 1952, Noguchi continued working on the Akari light sculpture series he had begun a year earlier in Gifu. He created around eighteen models, including the 5, and exhibited them at the Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura.1 A promotional sheet from the period shows most of the new Akari and, helpfully, assembly instructions.2

Summarizing reception to the show, Hugo Munsterberg wrote in 1953’s College Art Journal, “Critics differed widely as regards the success of these sculptures, but all of them were unanimous in hailing his lamps, which combine modern design with the traditional Japanese lanterns, as eminently successful.”

The 5 appears again at the Chuo Koron Gallery exhibition of 1954,3,4 in a screenprinted black variant (now called the 5AD) and red variant of the same design, and in a subsequent promotional sheet produced in Japan.5
Installation view, “Isamu Noguchi Exhibition,” Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura, September 23–October 19, 1952. Photo: Isamu Noguchi. The Noguchi Museum Archives, 05500. ©INFGM / ARS
Fig. 1
Akari Lamps by Isamu Noguchi promotional sheet, c. 1952. The Noguchi Museum Archives, LBD_50S_025_005. ©INFGM / ARS
Fig. 2
Installation view, “Isamu Noguchi Exhibition,” Chuo Koron Gallery, Tokyo, August 2–7, 1954. The Noguchi Museum Archives, 07136. ©INFGM / ARS
Fig. 3
Installation view, “Isamu Noguchi Exhibition,” Chuo Koron Gallery, Tokyo, August 2–7, 1954. The Noguchi Museum Archives, 05510. ©INFGM / ARS
Fig. 4
Akari Lamps by Isamu Noguchi promotional sheet, c. 1954. The Noguchi Museum Archives, AKA_PRI_001_003. ©INFGM / ARS
Fig. 5
About Akari Light Sculptures

Learn more about the history of Akari, one of Isamu Noguchi’s most successful efforts “to bring sculpture into a more direct involvement with the common experience of living.”

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