Noguchi's Mississippi Fountain to be Donated and Relocated to NOMA

This autumn, Isamu Noguchi's granite sculpture, Mississippi Fountain (1961-62), will be moved to the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) for the restoration of its water feature. Weighing 40 tons, the sculpture is currently situated at the former John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Building and will be transported to City Park in a specially designed steel cage. In collaboration with architect Gordon Bunshaft, the piece symbolizes the city's ties to the Mississippi River. It was donated by the Besthoff family in memory of Sydney Besthoff III and will take the place of Roy Lichtenstein's Five Brushstrokes at NOMA. In 2023, another Noguchi-Bunshaft creation, The Family (1956-57), fetched $12.3 million at Sotheby’s. NOMA director Susan M. Taylor aspires for it to become a cultural landmark.