Isamu Noguchi was born in 1904 in the USA. In 1906 he moved with his family to Japan where he grew up. In 1918 he was sent back to the USA for his education, where he studied sculpture at the Leonardo da Vinci Art School in New York City, where his talents were recognised and encouraged.

One of Noguchi's best known designs is his 1945 "Coffee table", featuring a glass top on an organic curvilinear, sculptural wooden foot. His collaboration with the Herman Miller company and George Nelson, Charles Eames and Paul Laszlo resulted in a catalogue considered to be the most influential body of modern furniture.