Harry Bertoia Printmaker

The seventy-nine monotypes in this catalogue represent the principal styles and themes that emerged not only in Harry Bertoia's printmaking, but in his sculpture as well. June Kompass Nelson, author of Harry Bertoia, Sculptor, analyzes the graphic works and places them in the context of Bertoia's total oeuvre, with particular regard to their relationship with his sculpture. A teacher of metalwork and printmaking at the Cranbrook Academy of Arts in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, Bertoia began working in monotype in 1940—nearly a decade before his first attempts at sculpture—and continually returned to the medium until his death in 1978. Nelson's introduction, biographical material, and well-documented chronology contribute to the portrait of a Michigan artist of international repute who maintained his "regionalist sensibility".

The seventy-nine monotypes in this catalogue represent the principal styles and themes that emerged not only in Harry Bertoia's printmaking, but in his sculpture as well. June Kompass Nelson, author of Harry Bertoia, Sculptor, analyzes the graphic works and places them in the context of Bertoia's total oeuvre, with particular regard to their relationship with his sculpture. A teacher of metalwork and printmaking at the Cranbrook Academy of Arts in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, Bertoia began working in monotype in 1940--nearly a decade before his first attempts at sculpture--and continually returned to the medium until his death in 1978. Nelson's introduction, biographical material, and well-documented chronology contribute to the portrait of a Michigan artist of international repute who maintained his "regionalist sensibility".

Harry Bertoia, Sculptor is devoted to the life and work of a twentieth-century Italian-born American artist whose important commissions are located in twenty-five American cities from New York to Seattle and from Minneapolis to Miami. It traces the development of Bertoia’s versatile career from his youth in Detroit, beginning with drawings, paintings, and monoprints, then jewelry and furniture designs, to his abstract sculptures in metals, many of architectural proportions. The book includes a biography of the man and detailed descriptions of his methods of working. Many major sculptures and some minor ones are described in detail. They are critically analyzed for their aesthetic components and the ideas they were intended to express. A large number of photographs supplements the descriptions and analyses. Two appendixes give chronologies of the artist’s life and of his architectural commissions, the latter virtually a catalog of Bertoia’s major works. Based on several extensive interviews with the artist, as well as on research into his earlier writings, the book includes Bertoia's thoughts on aesthetics and various phases of the art processes he uses. His work is categorized into four major aesthetic explorations that interested him most of his life.

The brilliant mid-century modern artist, Harry Bertoia (1915-1978), left a rich legacy of art and design, each with an intriguing history. And yet, while just about everyone has seen the Diamond Chair, few can identify Harry Bertoia as its designer. Even fewer recognize the Bertoia sculptures and other monumental pieces at various public venues. This important volume, illustrated with over 200 revealing photos, allows easy identification and appreciation of Bertoia's work. Written with insights that only a daughter could offer, this impressive book also reveals the complex man behind the fascinating art. Personal letters and family anecdotes offer a deep look into the life and motivations of this profound metal artist. Not only will readers get a peek at the behind-the-scenes skirmishes involved in making art, but will also gain insight into the philosophy as well as technical innovation of this dynamic artist.

American sculptor, designer, print artist Harry Bertoia (1915-1978) made thousands of monoprints on rice paper to record his shape ideas. Many ultimately became the basis of sculptures during his forty-year career. Here over 1500 of his fascinating monoprints are presented with their identifying numbers and dimensions. The importance of these artworks to Bertoia's career is acknowledged. Contributions to the text from Bertoia's children present their feelings when they see these astounding images and recall the years of enthusiastic discussions with their father. The book adds an important volume to references about Harry Bertoia's work, which includes sculpture as commissions for institutions throughout America.

An extraordinary artist and designer: a fresh view of Harry Bertoia's entire body of work. Italian-born American Harry Bertoia (1915-78) was one of the most prolific and innovative artists and designers of the postwar period. Trained at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, where he met future colleagues and collaborators, such as Charles and Ray Eames, Florence Knoll, and Eero Saarinen, he went on to make one-of-a-kind jewelry, design iconic chairs, create thousands of unique sculptures including large-scale commissions for significant buildings, and advance the use of sound as sculptural material. His work speaks to the confluence of numerous fields of endeavor but is united throughout by a sculptural approach to making and an experimental embrace of metal. Harry Bertoia: Sculpting Mid-Century Modern Life accompanies the first US museum retrospective of the artist's career to examine the full scope of his broad, interdisciplinary practice and features important examples of his furniture, jewelry, monotypes, and diverse sculptural output. Lavishly illustrated, the book offers new scholarly essays as well as a catalog of the artist's numerous large-scale commissions. It questions how and why we distinguish between a chair, a necklace, a screen, and a freestanding sculpture--and what Bertoia's sculptural things, when taken together, say about the fluidity of visual language across culture, both at midcentury and now.