Harry Bertoia Masterpiece Pendant
View Similar Items
Harry Bertoia Masterpiece Pendant
About the Item
- Creator:Harry Bertoia (Artist)
- Dimensions:Height: 6 in (15.24 cm)Width: 4.5 in (11.43 cm)Depth: 0.5 in (1.27 cm)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1945
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Toronto, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU93472876362
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.
- An inscribed copy of Harry Bertoia's "Sculptor"By Harry BertoiaLocated in Toronto, OntarioA nice inscribed copy of June Kompass Nelson's book "Harry Bertoia , Sculptor"Category
Vintage 1970s American Books
MaterialsPaper
- Eames Office radio for EmersonBy Charles EamesLocated in Toronto, OntarioA nice radio design by the Eames office. Model 578A. Mahogany veneer case with plastic face and dials.Category
Vintage 1940s American Scientific Instruments
MaterialsMetal
- Rare Paavo Tynell Double PendantBy Paavo TynellLocated in Toronto, OntarioSuch an incredible example of Paavo Tynell's lighting designs. This example is rather unusual and comes with the original custom ordered glass shades. Simple and Classic. Soli...Category
Vintage 1950s Finnish Scandinavian Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
$8,500 / item - large glass obeliskBy VeniniLocated in Toronto, OntarioA large hand blown glass obelisk with internal canes or filigranaCategory
Vintage 1950s Italian Obelisks
MaterialsGlass
$2,400 - SIlver Tapio Wirkkala bowl TW 282By Tapio WirkkalaLocated in Toronto, OntarioA beautiful handmade to order solid silver bowl by Tapio Wirkkala for Kultakeskus .Category
Vintage 1960s Finnish Scandinavian Modern Decorative Bowls
- Tapio Wirkkala Bronze Bowl TW491By Tapio WirkkalaLocated in Toronto, OntarioA very nice and rather large solid bronze bowl by Tapio Wirkkala for Kultakeskus Oy, ca. 1974 Sculpted and hand turned with applied bronze feet. Stamped to bottom .Category
Vintage 1970s Finnish Scandinavian Modern Bowls and Baskets
MaterialsBronze
- Bertoia Foundation Sterling Silver Gong Style Pendant Designed by Harry BertoiaBy Harry BertoiaLocated in New York, NYThis is a hand-hammered reproduction of a rare design that Harry Bertoia did at the Bertoia Studio in the 1970s, Bertoia toyed with creating a complete line of jewelry since the 1940...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Collectible Je...
MaterialsSterling Silver
- Limited Edition Sterling Silver Gong Style Pendant Designed by Harry BertoiaBy Harry BertoiaLocated in New York, NYThis pendant design was originally hand tooled in the 1970s at the Bertoia shop in Bally, Pennsylvania. Bertoia contemplated a complete line of jewelry since the 1940s pieces had bee...Category
2010s American Collectible Jewelry
MaterialsSterling Silver
- Chairs by Harry Bertoia: Knoll Associates, Inc BrochureBy Knoll, Herbert MatterLocated in New York, NYKnoll brochure featuring chair (and bench) designs by Harry Bertoia but also including work by Richard Schultz, Isamu Noguchi, and Florence Knoll. Publi...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Books
MaterialsPaper
- Child Chair by Harry Bertoia for KnollBy Knoll, Harry BertoiaLocated in Oklahoma City, OKWonderful set of child sized side chairs designed by Harry Bertoia for Knoll. Set was painted light blue at one point and have a wonderful patina. Pictured with Herman Miller fiberglass armchair...Category
Vintage 1960s North American Mid-Century Modern Children's Furniture
MaterialsMetal
$800 / set - "The Masterpieces of Engraving"By Eugene Maxime ValléeLocated in Alessandria, PiemonteO/7821 - interesting French book that I saved from ruin: they are usually dismembered to make prints to sell individually. This one is intact, with its 24 printed plates. Nice to ...Category
Antique Mid-19th Century French Other Books
MaterialsPaper
- Masterpieces of Modern ArchitectureLocated in Bradenton, FLMasterpieces of Modern Architecture. Published by Barnes & Noble of New York in 2006. Hardcover book with dustjacket. 303 pages.Category
21st Century and Contemporary Books
MaterialsPaper