Advertisement. Visit ritzcarlton.com to learn more.

FROM THE EDITORS

By Julie Coe, Editorial Director

Isamu Noguchi, photographed with some of his Akari lamps in 1955. Photo: Louise Dahl-Wolfe, 1955. © Center for Creative Photography, Arizona Board of Regents. © 2025 The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Playgrounds aren’t the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of Isamu Noguchi. Yet the 20th-century designer famed for his striking Akari lamps was also a champion of inventive spaces for children to explore. Sarah Medford writes about two concurrent shows, one opening today at Atlanta’s High Museum and the other ongoing at Noguchi’s namesake museum in Queens, that examine the many facets of his broader legacy beyond his iconic furnishings.

Another classic being revisited is delft, the delicate blue-and-white tiles that originated in the Netherlands in the 17th century. We’re seeing it on everything from lighting to vases to furniture—trending while remaining timeless.

DESIGN FORWARD

By Sarah Medford

Isamu Noguchi’s “Model for Play Mountain” [unrealized], 1933, plaster, High Museum of Art, Atlanta. © 2025 The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

From April 10, “Isamu Noguchi: ‘I am not a designer’” at Atlanta’s High Museum of Art explores the conceptual overlaps between function and sculpture in the artist’s work. Visitors may come for his Akari light sculptures, but they’ll stay for his playground equipment, a rarely seen Martha Graham stage set and a model of a house he designed with architect Kazumi Adachi.

OBSESSIONS

By Sarah Medford

Studio Glithero Blueware vase. Photo by Maarten Willemstein

The delicate blue-and-white pottery style, famous from Dutch tilework, is inspiring fresh tableware and furniture designs that embrace its sprightly energy.

Advertisement. Visit ritzcarlton.com to learn more.

THE GLOBAL AGENDA

Derrick Adams, “Braving the Path,” 2023, part of “Derrick Adams: View Master” at the ICA Boston. Collection of Hooman and Tiffany Dayani, Beverly Hills, California

April 12. “Marcel Duchamp” opens at MoMA in New York City.
April 12. “Martin Puryear: Nexus” opens at the Cleveland Museum of Art in Cleveland, Ohio.
April 15. “Calder. Dreaming in Balance” opens at the opens at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris.
April 15. “Michelangelo and Rodin: Living Bodies” exhibition opens at the Louvre in Paris.
April 16. “Derrick Adams: View Master” opens at the ICA Boston.
April 16. “William Blake: The Age of Romantic Fantasy” opens at the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin.
April 16. The San Francisco Art Fair opens.
April 17. The Dallas Art Fair opens.
April 18. “The Music is Black: A British Story” opens at the V&A East in London.

This email was sent to you by Sotheby's

Manage preferences to unsubscribe

Download the Sotheby's app for iOS and Android

Sotheby’s, Inc. License No. 1216058. © 2026