§ Harry Bertoia (American 1915-1978) Untitled, circa 1949 welded steel and slate

(109.5cm (43.1in high) (including base))

Provenance: Private Collection, New York; Wright's, Chicago, Important 20th Century Design, 21 May 2006, Lot 137; Private Collection; Sotheby's, New York, 10 November 2010, Lot 6; A. Alfred Taubman; Sotheby's, New York, Design, 2 March 2016, Lot 332; Private Collection.

Footnote: “You go through these emotions – joy, suffering, happiness, sorrow –and if you happen to have a bit of metal in your hands – you just shape it.” (Harry Bertoia) Harry Bertoia remains to this day one of the most important artists and designers of the twentieth century, most recognisable for his sculptures that embrace wire and sound. Born in San Lorenzo in 1915, Bertoia moved to the United States of America at the age of 15 to begin his artistic career in Detroit. A few years after arriving in America, Bertoia enrolled at Cranbrook Academy of Art where he specialised in jewellery-making and metalsmithing, and it was in these formative years that he developed an understanding of and love for metal, which would go on to become his primary medium. Bertoia found the malleability of the material, and specifically wire, allowed him to create almost instantaneous creations and to visualise an idea as it was forming in the mind. As a sculptor and designer Bertoia was interested in and passionate about conceptualising nature and space in his work, which also found its way into his furniture designs such as the remarkably popular bird chairs (1952) which remain highly coveted to this day. It is no surprise then that he became the head of the metalsmith department at Cranbrook before he moved on to work with Charles and Ray Eames in 1943, where he continued his study of welding. Throughout the 1940s and into the mid-1950s, Bertoia’s exploration of metalwork and other industrial materials, such as slate, continued as his experimentations in nature expanded further into a search through the cosmos and space itself. His work in wire, such as the present example (lot XXX), express a harmonious exploration of space and nature that allows the viewer to ponder and interpret his abstraction of form. We observe a sense of catching a fleeting moment in time that is perhaps reminiscent of a bird in motion or perhaps an investigation into an innovative architectural feat in the cosmos. Harry Bertoia went on to receive numerous important public commissions, which can still be viewed at public collections such as at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington D. C., the Manufacturer’s Trust in New York, and the Huntington Library in California. His works remain highly coveted by institutions and much loved by private collectors worldwide.