Was Isamu Noguchi a Desinger?
Collecting Design: History, Collections, Highlights.
Collecting Design has become a barometer for changing tastes and for shifting directions in decor. Not only blue-chip pieces, but affordable furniture and lighting as well. The series Collecting Design: History, Collections, Highlights will open next month. Isamu Noguchi designed many innovative, modernist, and memorable pieces of furniture. Was Noguchi a designer? And why was the production of his famed coffee table, the best-seller coffee table of all time, ceased between 1974 and 1984?
The world of design gains significant momentum as design objects fetch record-setting prices and the global market continues to thrive. This growth has been driven by an institutional interest and expanded international collector base, including Millennials and Gen Z, who currently make up 20% of design bidders. Collectible design is no longer about connoisseurship, but about the creation of personal, dazzling interiors with narrative as collectible objects make the core of some of the world’s finest homes today. Yet, despite the increasing knowledge and as design of historical significance has occupied art scholars, been the focus of museum exhibitions, the market has been flooded with fakes, copies, reeditions, and misattributed works; the term ‘collectible design’ has become more elusive as it is commonly used incorrectly.
The program Collecting Design: History, Collections, Highlights has become known as the most exciting design experience. It is time to thoroughly re-examine and to analyze the term ‘collectible design,’ which was coined relatively recently to describe long-time collecting activities. What makes a design object ‘collectible’? What is the role of the changing taste in the ‘collectibility’ of design objects? The current blue-chip fixtures in the design market are objects of bold visions and innovations—of historical significance. Among the stars of the current market are François-Xavier and Claude Lalanne, Diego Giacometti, George Nakashima, Jean Royère, Lucie Rie, and Tiffany Studios. There is also a rising interest in the work of newly-discovered stars, notably Judy Kensley McKie, Line Vautrin, and Shiro Kuramata; a very different group than what was the face of the market 10 years ago.
Join me this spring for the most fascinating and memorable season as I renew the series ‘Collecting Design: History, Collections, Highlights,’ which I started 12 years ago. Together with some of the world’s leading experts, I will dive into the magical world of the art of collecting design. Among the topics covered this season are Isamu Noguchi, American interwar design, Nordic lighting and furniture, Japanese ceramics, mid-century Brazilian furniture, Marolles, Panton, and so much more. While creating a collection takes passion and dedication, it requires an educated eye to determine the great from the mediocre, and to fully understand, as good design is not in the eye of the beholder, but ought to be judged objectively. Together we will learn how to ‘read’ objects, and what really is ‘collectible’ in design. Join me and take your taste and knowledge to new horizons.
Collecting Design: History, Collections, Highlights; 8 virtual sessions on Wednesdays from 12:00 to 1:00 pm EST.
Starting Date: February 18. Registration is open.
As a participant in the series, you will be invited to a curator-led tour of TEFAF New York on May 15th, 2026.
