Oasis: Noguchi’s Art Garden in Jerusalem

The Billy Rose Art Garden is widely admired not only as one of the most beautiful and impressive art gardens of the twentieth century but also as one of the most important works of its designer, the Japanese-American artist Isamu Noguchi. The Garden, which spans over five acres, is an environmental sculpture embracing landscape, nature, and art. Anchored in the earth, it spreads towards the horizon on the western edge of the Museum in the direction of Givat Ram.

Considered one of the most important and pioneering artists of the twentieth century, Noguchi expanded sculpture’s traditional definition with the variety of their materials, transcending the museum galleries to become a total environmental space. Noguchi saw Jerusalem as a place charged with emotion and history; his initial inspiration was the combination of the words “Neve Sha’anan” from the Book of Isaiah, describing a place of peace and tranquility, and the name of the neighborhood adjacent to the Museum. Noguchi’s intention was to create an “oasis” – a space for contemplation that blends matter and spirit, influences from the East and the West, past, present, and future.

The Garden’s inauguration in 1965, coinciding with the opening of the Israel Museum, was thanks to the generosity of collector and impresario Billy Rose who financed it and donated his rich collection of sculptures, which formed the Garden’s foundation. To mark the Garden’s sixth decade, a special exhibition is dedicated to the story of its creation and the inspiration for its design. This masterpiece of sculpted landscape, a garden that is a sculpture in the heart of Jerusalem, continues to pulsate and renew itself, inviting visitors on a journey of discovery, respite, and connection to the place.