Harry Bertoia: Untitled, Framed Monotype on Rice Paper, United States 1960s
About the Item
- Creator:Harry Bertoia (Artist)
- Dimensions:Height: 12 in (30.48 cm)Width: 39 in (99.06 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1960s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Professionally framed and matted.
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU3576338021072
Harry Bertoia
Sculptor, furniture and jewelry designer, graphic artist and metalsmith, Harry Bertoia was one of the great cross-disciplinarians of 20th-century art and design and a central figure in American mid-century modernism. Among furniture aficionados, Bertoia is known for his chairs such as the wire-lattice Diamond chair (and its variants such as the tall-backed Bird chair) designed for Knoll Inc. and first released in 1952.
As an artist, he is revered for a style that was his alone. Bertoia’s metal sculptures are by turns expressive and austere, powerful and subtle, intimate in scale and monumental. All embody a tension between the intricacy and precision of Bertoia’s forms and the raw strength of his materials: steel, brass, bronze and copper.
Fortune seemed to guide Bertoia’s artistic development. Born in northeastern Italy, Bertoia immigrated to the United States at age 15, joining an older brother in Detroit. He studied drawing and metalworking in the gifted student program at Cass Technical High School. Recognition led to awards that culminated, in 1937, in a teaching scholarship to attend the Cranbrook Academy of Art in suburban Bloomfield Hills, one of the great crucibles of modernism in America.
At Cranbrook, Bertoia made friendships — with architect Eero Saarinen, designers Charles and Ray Eames and Florence Schust Knoll and others — that shaped the course of his life. He taught metalworking at the school, and when materials rationing during World War II limited the availability of metals, Bertoia focused on jewelry design. He also experimented with monotype printmaking, and 19 of his earliest efforts were bought by the Guggenheim Museum.
In 1943, he left Cranbrook to work in California with the Eameses, helping them develop their now-famed plywood furniture. (Bertoia received scant credit.) Late in that decade, Florence and Hans Knoll persuaded him to move east and join Knoll Inc. His chairs became and remain perennial bestsellers. Royalties allowed Bertoia to devote himself full-time to metal sculpture, a medium he began to explore in earnest in 1947.
By the early 1950s Bertoia was receiving commissions for large-scale works from architects — the first came via Saarinen — as he refined his aesthetic vocabulary into two distinct skeins. One comprises his “sounding sculptures” — gongs and “Sonambient” groupings of rods that strike together and chime when touched by hand or by the wind. The other genre encompasses Bertoia’s naturalistic works: abstract sculptures that suggest bushes, flower petals, leaves, dandelions or sprays of grass.
As you will see on these pages, Harry Bertoia was truly unique; his art and designs manifest a wholly singular combination of delicacy and strength.
Find vintage Harry Bertoia sculptures, armchairs, benches and other furniture and art on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: New York, NY
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 7 days of delivery.
- Gene Hedge, Beautiful Abstract Assemblage, a 3D Paper Collage in Brown and BlackBy Gene HedgeLocated in New York, NYGene Hedge (b. 1928) Delicate, highly textured assemblage by American artist Gene Hedge, made of found paper collected in the vacant lots of Chicago. Hedge’s beautiful three-dimensi...Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Paintings
MaterialsPaper
- Angelo Testa: Pair of Signed Geometric Abstract Prints in Red and Yellow, 1950'sBy Angelo TestaLocated in New York, NYAngelo Testa (1921–1984) A pair of signed geometric prints by preeminent textile designer Angelo Testa, a disciple of László Moholy-Nagy renowned for the complex abstract fabrics he ...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Prints
MaterialsPaper
- Jorge Zalszupin, Exceptional Cabinet and Bookcase in Jacaranda, Brazil 1960sBy Jorge ZalszupinLocated in New York, NYJorge Zalszupin (1922 - 2020) A rare and important cabinet with bookcase and drawers by Jorge Zalszupin, in alternating striations of jacaranda and yellow lacquered wood. The compo...Category
Vintage 1960s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Bookcases
MaterialsWood
- Pair of Shapely Upholstered Bentwood Club Chairs by Ward Bennett, 1960sBy Brickel Associates, Ward BennettLocated in New York, NYWard Bennett (1917–2003) A graceful and welcoming pair of club armchairs by Ward Bennett for Brickel Associates, with sinuous Bauhaus-influenced arms, a plush seat, and flared rounded back legs offset by straight rounded front legs...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsMohair, Walnut
- Sergio Rodrigues Six Dining Chairs in Wood and Tan Cowhide, Brazil, 1960sBy Sergio RodriguesLocated in New York, NYSergio Rodrigues (1927–2014) A striking set of six modernist dining chairs by Carioca design pioneer Sérgio Rodrigues, in hardwood upholstered in unshaved caramel-colored cowhide. T...Category
Vintage 1950s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsCowhide, Hardwood
- Max Ingrand for Fontana Arte: Rectangular Mirror with Floating Glass FrameBy Max Ingrand, Fontana ArteLocated in New York, NYMax Ingrand (1908 - 1969) for Fontana Arte. A modernist rectangular mirror by Max Ingrand for Fontana Arte, with a floating frame comprised of four thick slabs of crystal united by ...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Mirrors
MaterialsBrass
- Harry Bertoia Framed Monoprint on Rice Paper, USA, 1960sBy Harry BertoiaLocated in New York, NYBertoia created hundreds if not thousands of one of a kind monoprints in his career, often as working drawings for his sculpture works. He employed a variety of techniques to arrive ...Category
Vintage 1960s North American Prints
MaterialsPaper
- Harry Bertoia Framed Monoprint on Rice Paper, USA, 1960sBy Harry BertoiaLocated in New York, NYBertoia created hundreds if not thousands of one of a kind monoprints in his career, often as working drawings for his sculpture works. He employed a variety of techniques to arrive ...Category
Vintage 1960s North American Prints
MaterialsPaper
- Harry Bertoia Framed Monoprint on Rice Paper, USA 1960sBy Harry BertoiaLocated in New York, NYBertoia created hundreds if not thousands of one of a kind monoprints in his career, often as working drawings for his sculpture works. He employed a variety of techniques to arrive ...Category
Vintage 1960s North American Prints
MaterialsPaper
- Harry Bertoia Framed Monoprint on Rice Paper, USA, 1960sBy Harry BertoiaLocated in New York, NYBertoia created hundreds if not thousands of one of a kind monoprints in his career, often as working drawings for his sculpture works. He employed a variety of techniques to arrive ...Category
Vintage 1960s North American Prints
MaterialsPaper
- Harry Bertoia Framed Monoprint on Rice Paper, USA, 1960sBy Harry BertoiaLocated in New York, NYBertoia created hundreds if not thousands of one of a kind monoprints in his career, often as working drawings for his sculpture works. He employed a variety of techniques to arrive ...Category
Vintage 1960s North American Prints
MaterialsPaper
- Very Rare Harry Bertoia Monoprint on Rice PaperBy Harry BertoiaLocated in Munich, DEPurchased at la modern around 20 years ago. It´s the size of the work - not the frame.Category
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Prints
MaterialsPaper