Harry Bertoia

together with a custom stand

Acquired directly from the artist by Harry Bertoia's metal supplier
Acquired from the above by the present owner

In Nature’s Embrace: The World of Harry Bertoia, exh. cat., Reading Public Museum, Reading, 2006, p. 50 (for a related model)
Bent, Cast & Forged: The Jewelry of Harry Bertoia, exh. cat., Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, 2015, pl. 31 (for a related example)

Please note that the correct material for this lot is silver. Overall in excellent original condition. The silver with minor surface scratches and a few slight discolorations, only visible upon close inspection. The silver has acquired a subtle patina. A great example of Bertoia’s exceptional metalworking skills.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Harry Bertoia’s jewelry denotes a pivotal moment in his artistic development, both practically and intellectually. As a boy in San Lorenzo, Italy, Bertoia began his training in drawing and painting, which he continued after immigrating to Detroit, Michigan. He had already started experimenting with jewelry-making by the time he enrolled at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan in 1937. Cranbrook’s multidisciplinary approach allowed Bertoia to investigate and work in a variety of media, but he quickly found his niche in metalcraft. He focused on making housewares and jewelry, and after just two years he was appointed to run the metalcraft department.

It was around this time that Bertoia met Brigitta Valentiner, a Cranbrook student and daughter of Wilhelm Valentiner, who was then the director of the Detroit Institute of Arts. His relationship with the Valentiners had a profound impact on Bertoia personally and creatively: he and Brigitta married in 1943, and she and her art historian father played a significant role in introducing Bertoia to modern abstract art. In particular, the expressive, spontaneous, and graphic work of Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee resonated with Bertoia. He interpreted this inspiration in his jewelry creations, experimenting with contour, composition, and graphic decoration.

Working on a small scale enabled Bertoia to hone his metalworking skills and innovate new techniques that would inform his later work. Referencing Kandinsky and Klee, he took an improvisational approach to his creative process. For example, for some jewelry pieces he would cast gold or silver directly on charcoal blocks, manipulating the surface of the metal as it cooled, much like the technique later used for his larger-scale spill cast sculptures (see lots 15 and 20). As a subset, Bertoia’s jewelry presents a survey of
some of the most important tenets of his wider oeuvre, including his commitment to craft, the diversity of forms, metals, and techniques in which he worked, and his astonishing integration of sculpture, graphic lines, and inspiration drawn from nature.

From 1943 until 1947, Bertoia exhibited his jewelry alongside his monoprints at Nierendorf Gallery in New York, after which point his jewelry production all but stopped. Pieces made post-1947, such as lots 24 and 25, were special productions. In this case, Bertoia produced and then bartered these pieces with one of his metal suppliers, and they have remained in the recipient’s family since the period.