Rain Mountain

Isamu Noguchi was a leading modernist sculptor, designer, and architect who believed that art and architecture should help people understand and connect with nature and each other in new ways. Noguchi worked in a wide range of styles and mediums, always respectful of the natural qualities of his chosen materials. Rain Mountain is an elegant example of Noguchi's artistic convictions, in which he uses a sequence of simplified, interconnected forms to symbolize the mountainous terrain of Japan, while echoing the traditional stylistic elements of Japanese landscape painting. The sculpture consists of a series of elongated, curvilinear planes of galvanized steel set at various acute angles to each other. When viewed from a distance, the sculpture's abstract planes define a three-dimensional space, while its treated surfaces suggest a wet and misty landscape.