Important Design

Important Design

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 106. HARRY BERTOIA | UNTITLED (MULTI-PLANE CONSTRUCTION).

HARRY BERTOIA | UNTITLED (MULTI-PLANE CONSTRUCTION)

Auction Closed

July 30, 06:21 PM GMT

Estimate

100,000 - 150,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

HARRY BERTOIA

UNTITLED (MULTI-PLANE CONSTRUCTION)


circa 1955

brass-coated steel

84½ x 21⅛ x 15¾ in. (213.3 x 55.8 x 40.6 cm)

Private Collection

Thence by descent to the present owner

Celia Bertoia, The Life and Work of Harry Bertoia, Atglen, PA, 2015. p. 39 (for a related example)

Beverly H. Twitchell, Bertoia, New York, 2019, p. 167 (for a related example)

This lot is offered together with a certificate of authenticity from the Harry Bertoia Foundation, St. George, Utah.


Sculpture was the means by which artist Harry Bertoia expressed his contemplations of nature, spirituality and the cosmos. Embracing the boundlessness and mystery inherent in these themes and concepts, Bertoia permitted interpretation and poetic ambiguity even in the presentation of his works, encouraging the collector to display his sculpture the way it resonated with them most. The present Multi-Plane Construction, which is an impressively large example of the form, was displayed at one point as a centerpiece on a dining table. This was possibly the purpose for which it was originally commissioned, but it also includes structural provisions for it to be mounted to a wall either vertically or horizontally. Its versatility thus imparts life and energy to this work, consistent with the artist's intent and inspiration.