Art
Garden
Designed by the Japanese-American
sculptor Isamu Noguchi, the Art Garden lies on the western slope
of the Museum’s campus. It is divided into wide, crescent-shaped
sections arching upward and supported by high walls made of
rough fieldstone. As in a Japanese Zen garden, the ground is
covered in gravel, and paths lined with local plants and trees
connect the different sections. A multitude of materials were
incorporated into the garden’s design: stones of different
kinds and sizes, exposed concrete, and water. Walls enclose
smaller spaces and rectilinear terraces of the garden, echoing
the shapes of the Museum’s buildings.
The collection displayed in the garden includes works by
the great sculptors of the late nineteenth century (Auguste
Rodin, Emile-Antoine Bourdelle, and Aristide Maillol) and
renowned artists of the twentieth century (such as Pablo Picasso,
Alexander Archipenko, Jacques Lipchitz, Henry Moore, David
Smith, Sol LeWitt, Donald Judd, Claes Oldenburg, Magdalena
Abakanowicz, Richard Serra, Joel Shapiro, and James Turrell).
Menashe Kadishman, Igael Tumarkin, Ezra Orion, and Benni Efrat
are some of the prominent Israeli artists represented.
The Art Garden is greatly loved by the Museum’s visitors.
While providing an opportunity for the quiet contemplation
of natural and artistic beauty, it has also been the venue
of successful cultural events of all kinds. Counted among
the finest sculpture gardens of the twentieth century, this
is one of Noguchi’s masterpieces, a synthesis of different
cultures—those of the Far East, the Near East, and the
West—against the backdrop of Jerusalem’s dramatic
landscape.
Judith Spitzer
Former Curator and Managing Editor of Art Wing Publications
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Ascension, 1929
Otto Freundlich,
born Germany,
active France, 1878-1943
Bronze
Height: 2 m
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Apple Core, 1992
Claes Oldenburg,
American, born 1929
Stainless steel, urethane foam,
resin, and urethane enamel
Height: 3 m (9 ft 9 in) |
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XK3, 1965
Jean Tinguely,
Swiss, born 1925
Painted iron |
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Suspense, 1966
Menashe Kadishman,
Israeli, born 1932
Painted iron
Height: 3 m |
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Vertebrae, 1968
Henry Moore,
British, 1898-1986
Bronze
Length: 7.1 m (23 ft 4 in) |
Negev, 1987
Magdalena Abakanowicz,
born 1930
Limestone from Mizpeh Ramon,
Negev desert
Diameter: 2.8 m (9 ft)
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Profiles, 1967
Pablo Picasso concrete |
Study for Balzac, nude, 1892
Auguste Rodin,
French, 1840-1917
Bronze
Height: 127.5 cm |
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Auguste Rodin , French, 1840–1917 Pierre de Wiessant, Large Model , 1885–86 Bronze, 214 x 116 x 118 cm |
David Smith , American, 1906–1965 Cubi VI , 1963 Stainless steel, 285 x 75 x 55.5 cm
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James Turrell , American, born 1943 Space That Sees , 1992 Gray and white concrete, limestone, fluorescent light with dimmers, 700 x 1,000 x 1,000 cm
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