“The urge for good design is the same as the urge to go on living.” – Harry Bertoia, Italian-born American artist, sculptor, and modern furniture designer.
image source:https://bebob.eu/en/designer/bertoia-harry/#tab_informatie
About his life
Harry Bertoia,original nameArri Bertoia(born March 10,1915, San Lorenzo, Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy—died November 6,1978Barto,宾夕法尼亚州,美国),是一个出生于意大利Americansculptor,printmaker,jewelryandfurniture designerbest known for his monumental architectural sculptures and classicBertoia Diamond chair．
What are his most famous creations?
MONOPRINTS
Harry Bertoia started making monoprints when inCranbrook, developing a very personal method, and continued doing so all along his life. As a matter of fact monotypes were often for him a way to explore and put down on paper the original idea behind a new object or sculpture.
image source:http://harrybertoia.org/about-bertoia-monotypes/
CHAIRS
In 1950, Knoll gave Bertoia the possibility to develop his artistic concepts in full freedom. Out of this challenge emerged a range of chairs and other furniture “mostly made of air” as Bertoia described them. TheKnollcollection of “wire chairs” was to immediately become an icon of mid-century design, which is still in production to this day.
image source:https://www.knoll.com/product/bertoia-bird-chair
image source:https://search.creativecommons.org/photos/5870fdeb-c799-49fe-ba02-97e5625a2b07byDesign Trust for Public Space
SCULPTURE
Bertoia’s “Sunburst Sculpture” owned by the Joslyn Art Museum was originally installed in the Joslyn’s Fountain Court. It is now located in the lobby of the Milton R. Abrahams Branch of the Omaha Public Library. Lord Palumbo owns several Bertoia works which are on display at Kentuck Knob. Bertoia’s “Sounding Sculpture” can be found in the plaza of The Aon Center, Chicago’s third tallest building. Another “Sounding Sculpture“, considerably smaller than the one mentioned above, is featured in theRose Terraceof theChicago Botanic Garden, and a third very similar to the piece in Chicago called “Sounding Piece” was until 2003 on display at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
image source:https://search.creativecommons.org/photos/2a308b6c-152c-4ca9-bfc4-e54c3844e19dbyOs2014
image source:https://search.creativecommons.org/photos/a4effa51-dd40-4f83-b722-7d4ef3736eaebySharon Mollerus
image source:https://search.creativecommons.org/photos/0e6377ad-dd2a-4134-8b33-f19a0ec6b81bbyokeefew
What are Bertoia’s style main features ?
Harry Bertoia was ametal workerahead of his time who crossed boundaries daily. His jewelry issculptureyou can wear, the monotypes a window into the universe, the chairs aresensualandsculpturaland his sculptures range from welded to spill-cast to hand-shaped. His gentle nature was expressed in delicate fine wire work while his superhuman strength was needed to handle the massive architectural commissions.
images source:https://www.knoll.com/product/bertoia-diamond-chair-outdoor
He designed the ever-popularDiamond chair, crafted over 50 public sculptures, and created theSonambient sounding sculptures．从生物形态的珠宝到4吨喷泉,从children’s chairs to the asymmetric chaise, from singing rods to thunderous 10’ gongs, from color field graphics to layered monographics, this prolific man preferred not to title his art because it came from “the great Oneness,” and needed no man’s identification or name to have its effect.
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