Pierre Sabatier X Isamu Noguchi: a cosmic talk

27 September 2022

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On Wednesday, September 28, PIASA is organizing an exclusive sale, a dialogue between the French artist Pierre Sabatier (1925-2003) and the American-Japanese designer Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988).

The auction includes 91 lots, half of which focus on the sculptural work of Pierre Sabatier, including his mural creations and monumental decors, as well as his research into ceramic work. The catalog also establishes an imaginary encounter with Isamu Noguchi's lighting production. A curation in the manner of a "cosmic talk" between matter and light, through the delicate lightness of washi paper and the unalterable strength of the materials chosen by Pierre Sabatier.

"In my father's studio, there was a large Akari suspension, where insects made a ballet in the light, a choreography of entries and exits, of circonvolutions punctuated by bumps on the thin paper, like a drum, what a source of fascination for a child of my age!" remembers Damien Sabatier, son of the artist, co-instigator of this sale "Today, by immersing myself in the life and work of Noguchi, I discover how much the two men - he and my father - shared the same spirit, took similar paths and creative pathways, all without ever having physically met."

This auction follows a first sale organized in October 2014 that was entirely devoted to the work of Pierre Sabatier.

This new event is an opportunity to rediscover, through an original curatorial concept, the full scope of this work on materials that considers sculpture as an environment. Therefore, the selection is particularly interested in mural pieces made of hammered, welded or shaped metal... or even in decorations designed for living spaces. In front of these objects made of matter, there are objects of light with an almost evanescent plasticity: the washi paper lamps of the Akari series - a Japanese term associating clarity and weightlessness - designed in the 1950s by the artist-designer Isamu Noguchi, which have since become timeless icons, between art and design.

"For the two men, there is no distinction between art as finality and more utilitarian and functional objects. A same feeling of total freedom animates them, without limitations, without preconceived value judgments, without hierarchy of arts, materials, mediums, techniques."