Sculptor, furniture and jewelry designer, graphic artist and metalsmith, Harry Bertoia was one of the great cross-disciplinarians of 20th-century art and design and a central figure in American mid-century modernism. Among furniture aficionados, Bertoia is known for his chairs such as the wire-lattice Diamond chair (and its variants such as the tall-backed Bird chair) designed for Knoll Inc. and first released in 1952.
As an artist, he is revered for a style that was his alone. Bertoia’s metal sculptures are by turns expressive and austere, powerful and subtle, intimate in scale and monumental. All embody a tension between the intricacy and precision of Bertoia’s forms and the raw strength of his materials: steel, brass, bronze and copper.
Fortune seemed to guide Bertoia’s artistic development. Born in northeastern Italy, Bertoia immigrated to the United States at age 15, joining an older brother in Detroit. He studied drawing and metalworking in the gifted student program at Cass Technical High School. Recognition led to awards that culminated, in 1937, in a teaching scholarship to attend the Cranbrook Academy of Art in suburban Bloomfield Hills, one of the great crucibles of modernism in America.
At Cranbrook, Bertoia made friendships — with architect Eero Saarinen, designers Charles and Ray Eames and Florence Schust Knoll and others — that shaped the course of his life. He taught metalworking at the school, and when materials rationing during World War II limited the availability of metals, Bertoia focused on jewelry design. He also experimented with monotype printmaking, and 19 of his earliest efforts were bought by the Guggenheim Museum.
In 1943, he left Cranbrook to work in California with the Eameses, helping them develop their now-famed plywood furniture. (Bertoia received scant credit.) Late in that decade, Florence and Hans Knoll persuaded him to move east and join Knoll Inc. His chairs became and remain perennial bestsellers. Royalties allowed Bertoia to devote himself full-time to metal sculpture, a medium he began to explore in earnest in 1947.
By the early 1950s Bertoia was receiving commissions for large-scale works from architects — the first came via Saarinen — as he refined his aesthetic vocabulary into two distinct skeins. One comprises his “sounding sculptures” — gongs and “Sonambient” groupings of rods that strike together and chime when touched by hand or by the wind. The other genre encompasses Bertoia’s naturalistic works: abstract sculptures that suggest bushes, flower petals, leaves, dandelions or sprays of grass.
As you will see on these pages, Harry Bertoia was truly unique; his art and designs manifest a wholly singular combination of delicacy and strength.
Find vintage Harry Bertoia sculptures, armchairs, benches and other furniture and art on 1stDibs.
Very Rare Harry Bertoia Monoprint on Rice Paper
By Harry Bertoia
Located in Munich, DE
Purchased at la modern around 20 years ago. Size is of the visible picture inside passe-partout.
Paint
$8,500
Harry Bertoia monotype
By Harry Bertoia
Located in New York, NY
Monotype by Harry Bertoia, initialed and numbered 1860 on rice paper set mounted in oiled walnut frame. From the Bertoia Family collection. A beautiful rendering of his sculptures id...
Paper
Early Important Harry Bertoia Monotype
By Harry Bertoia
Located in Chicago, IL
Early Important Harry Bertoia Monotype, One of his first works on paper, Monoprint on Rice Raper Signed to verso ‘HB’. Inscribed to lower right ...
Paper
Very Rare Harry Bertoia Monoprint on Rice Paper
By Harry Bertoia
Located in Munich, DE
Purchased at la modern around 20 years ago. It´s the size of the work - not the frame.
Paper
$1,107
H 2.76 in W 12.21 in D 12.21 in
Important Wall Ceramic Abstract Plate Decoration by JN Gerard French Pottery
By Jean Nicolas Gerard
Located in Neuilly-en- sancerre, FR
J.N. Gerard French ceramic wall plate realised in the 1990s. Excellent original conditions, signed under the base Dimensions: 7 x 31 x 31cm.
Pottery
Important Antique Scottish History Print, after James Gillray, 1786
Located in St Annes, Lancashire
Wonderful oval stipple engraving after James Gillray Showing the meeting of Colonel Gardiner with his daughters before the Battle of Prestonpans. Set against the background of sterl...
Gesso, Paper
Original Vintage Print by Harry Clarke. C.1920
Located in St Annes, Lancashire
Wonderful image by Harry Clarke Lithograph. Published C.1920 Unframed Free shipping
Paper
$35
H 10.5 in W 7.5 in D 0.07 in
Original Vintage Print by Harry Clarke From Poe's "Mystery And Imagination" 1935
Located in St Annes, Lancashire
Wonderful image by Harry Clarke Originally an illustration from " Tales of Mystery And Imagination " By Edgar Allan Poe. Lithograph. Tipped in plate on paper Published by Tudor Pu...
Paper
$4,800
H 35 in W 44.25 in D 1 in
19th C, Decopauge "The Allegory of Civilization" Magnificent & Important Work
Located in Atlanta, GA
“The Allegory of Civilization: A Historical Collage of Progress and Virtue” This monumental and highly unusual large-scale decoupage tableau—measuring 44.25 inches wide by 35 inches high—is an extraordinary and densely composed visual compendium of 18th- and 19th-century figures of global significance. Executed in a monochrome palette with light hand-tinting, the work comprises hundreds of individual portrait engravings and narrative vignettes intricately collaged together to form a panoramic composition of historical, cultural, scientific, literary, and military figures, interspersed with allegorical and architectural elements. This form of assemblage is rooted in the 19th-century practice of *papiers collés* and popular scrapbooking traditions, but this work surpasses decorative craft in both ambition and intellectual scope, bordering on the encyclopedic. The hand-cut images appear to have been culled from period illustrated books and engraved portrait sources—most notably from publications such as *The Illustrated London News*, *Harper’s Weekly*, and *The Eclectic Magazine*—as well as engraved frontispieces and serialized pictorial histories. The result is a vast visual lexicon of Enlightenment and Romantic thought, likely intended as a celebration of moral, intellectual, and national achievement. At the composition’s apex, presiding over the assembled figures, is a classically draped winged allegory—possibly *Fame* or *Liberty*—holding a trumpet and laurel branch. The mountainous background, waterfalls, architectural ruins, and pastoral settings lend the piece a theatrical and didactic ambiance, evoking 19th-century didascalic panoramas. A partial identification of historical figures visible in the composition includes: * **George Washington** – Posed centrally, gesturing outward with one hand; he appears multiple times in the scene and is shown in both military uniform and formal dress. * **Napoleon Bonaparte** – Recognizable by his uniform, bicorne hat, and stern gaze; appears in profile and frontal portraits. * **Benjamin Franklin** – Seen holding a scroll; a common figure in Enlightenment iconography. * **William Shakespeare** – Near the lower central register; recognizable from the famous Chandos portrait derivative. * **Johann Wolfgang von Goethe** and **Friedrich Schiller** – Likely placed in the literary cluster with other Germanic figures. * **Florence Nightingale** – Shown in nurse’s cap and shawl, likely near a grouping of women in medical service. * **Queen Victoria** and **Prince Albert** – Appearing in regalia, along with a number of courtly figures. * **Ludwig van Beethoven**, **Franz Liszt**, and **Niccolò...
Giltwood, Paper
Vintage Thai Temple Charcoal Rubbing on Rice Paper
Located in Moreno Valley, CA
Vintage Thai Temple charcoal rubbing. Hand crafted temple scenes at the Wat Pho temple located in Phra Nakhon district in Bangkok Thailand...
Paper
Important 19th Century Italian Parade Plate
Located in Madrid, ES
Important 19th Century Italian Parade Plate Polychrome ceramic, with a wide brim, short frill, and a wide base. Reverse with ring support. Decoration on the rim with harpies and fan...
Maiolica, Porcelain
$356Sale Price|65% Off
H 25.6 in W 19.69 in D 0.4 in
Original Color Lithograph on Van Gelder Zonen Paper by Jörgen Fogelqvist, 1980s
Located in Warszawa, Mazowieckie
Jörgen Fogelqvist Lithography on Van Gelder Zonen paper Number 88/150 This work is signed by the artist and has an individual number Working dimensions 65/5...
Paper
$35
H 10.5 in W 7.5 in D 0.07 in
Original Vintage Print by Harry Clarke From Poe's "Mystery And Imagination" 1935
Located in St Annes, Lancashire
Wonderful image by Harry Clarke Originally an illustration from " Tales of Mystery And Imagination " By Edgar Allan Poe. Published by Tudor Publishing Co., New York. 1935 Unframed...
Paper
$35
H 10.5 in W 7.5 in D 0.07 in
Original Vintage Print by Harry Clarke From Poe's "Mystery And Imagination" 1935
Located in St Annes, Lancashire
Wonderful image by Harry Clarke Originally an illustration from " Tales of Mystery And Imagination " By Edgar Allan Poe. Lithograph. Tipped in plate on paper. Published by Tudor P...
Paper
$456Sale Price|20% Off
H 10.63 in W 14.38 in D 0.02 in
Rare Hand-Colored Antique Engraving of Flora Lying on a Bed Surrounded by Angels
Located in Langweer, NL
Antique print titled 'Flora'. It shows Flora lying on a bed between the trees. Two angels scatter flowers over her. Around her putti, satyrs and women who collect flowers...
Paper
Antique Print of a Rice Field on Java by M.T.H. Perelaer, 1888
Located in Langweer, NL
Antique print of a rice field on Java, Indonesia. This print originates from 'Het Kamerlid van Berkestein in Nederlandsch-Indie.', (translation: van Berkestein, member of the Dutch P...
Paper