Harry Bertoia

Acquired directly from the artist

Harry Bertoia: Decisi che una sedia non poteva a bastare, Civic Museum of Art and Exhibition Spaces, Pordenone, Italy, May 23-September 20, 2009

Nancy N. Schiffer and Val O. Bertoia, The World of Bertoia, Atglen, 2003, p. 105 (for an illustration of the National Bank of Boyertown fountain)
Gilberto Granger ed., Harry Bertoia: Decisi che una sedia non poteva a bastare, Milano, 2009, p. 166 (for the present lot illustrated)

The present lot is a maquette for the “Tulip” water fountain commissioned by the National Bank of Boyertown, Pennsylvania in 1974.  Its blossoming form is constructed from individual bronze rods welded together to create a three-dimensional contoured surface.  Bertoia employed this highly innovative and labor-intensive technique for a number of related public commissions for water sculptures, such as those at the Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company in Buffalo, New York (1968) and at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia (1972).  His welded forms, whether monumental fountains or diminutive sculptures, showcase Bertoia’s incredible dexterity as a craftsman and highlight his artistic vision to bring out natural forms from metal.