Characteristic of the early environment at Knoll, Hans and Florence never demanded that Bertoia design furniture, but instead encouraged him to explore whatever he liked. They simply asked that if he arrived at something interesting, to show them. Bertoia later explained the process: “I went around and discovered, quite soon, that I was not the man to do research. My feeling was that had to come from an inward direction. I began to rely once more on my own body. I began to think in terms of what I would like as a chair. It started very slowly…I came into rod or wire, whether bent of straight. I seemed to find myself at home. It was logical to make an attempt utilizing the wire. "Once more, I went through the procedure of positioning, considering the possibility of shapes, then relating, of course, what the wire itself could be, what shapes it might take, whether there were any tools to do it with. There are many aspects of the same things coming into one’s mind, but the very first thing was whether a shape would come up that would begin to serve as a chair, sitting on it, etc.
One was taking the shape of a side chair; another was beginning to extend to care of the head. This developed to the point where something could be held on to…You know, when you have something in front of you that can really physically be held, it becomes easier to make changes.”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 modernism. Among furniture aficionados he is known for 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, Bertoia 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. There, 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 Cranbrook, 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.The Stool 60 Giveaway. Sign up for our emails and a chance to win this ingenious stackable stool.
his art and designs manifest a wholly singular combination of delicacy and strength.How to spot an Original Knoll Bertoia Chair? Here is a link to an excellent video on how to discern the orginal chairs from the fakes. The main points to note are the tapered top wires with supporting rod behind (not on top) AND the "Knoll" inscription on the horizontal support wire near the bottom. Why should you choose an expensive original instead of a cheap reproduction? - Because you are supporting the artist (not monetarily, as Bertoia received a lump sum and was done, but artistically and philosophically) - You receive a quality product in the style intended by the designer - You take ownership of furniture that is art, and retains value - Anyone sitting in the chair gets a little piece of the designer's energy and creativityThe wire chairs he designed for Knoll show Harry Bertoia at the top of his game — his love of sculpture and knowledge of metalworking and ergonomics came together to create a chair that is lovely from every angle (and even quite comfortable, if you're willing to shell out a little extra for seat pads).
The first versions of Bertoia's wire chairs were made with the edges comprised of two thin wires, welded together on either side of the mesh seat. Unfortunately, this design had already been patented by Herman Miller for their Eames wire side chair. Herman Miller successfully sued Knoll, so subsequent generations of the Bertoia chair were made with a single thick wire on the edge of the chair. The wires of the seat rest on top of the edge wire, and are ground down at the edges so they won't poke you while you sit (although you may still get a distinctive 'waffle butt" pattern if you sit in one of the unpadded chairs). 60 years after their introduction (in 1952), these chairs are positively everywhere, from the sculpture garden at the MoMA to Jonathan Adler's Parker Palm Springs hotel to this writer's dining room. They go inside and out; they are lovely to look upon; and their wire mesh construction gives them a certain quality of being lighter than air. Harry Bertoia himself said of his work: "If you look at these chairs, they are mainly made of air, like sculpture.
Space passes right through them."The Bertoia chair's visual lightness makes it the perfect choice for this airy beach house by designer Alexandra Angle. 2. In a rustic loft from Jaklitsch Gardner via The Kitchn. 3. In a luxe bedroom from Lonny. 4. White Bertoia chairs, with a traditional table and an accompanying wishbone chair, make for a mix that's light and lovely, with a wonderful texture. Mikel Irastorza via Houzz. 5. Lovely outside, too. Bertoia chairs and a tulip table? I love the texture of the chairs and the texture of the concrete block juxtaposed against one another. House and Garden via Habitually Chic. 7. With cobalt blue covers, in a beachy interior from Marie Claire Maison. 8. In the sculpture garden at NYC's MoMA. 9. Black and white from Chris and Jenna's Collection in the Castro. 10. Bertoia barstools in a modern kitchen from Cultivate.Baby Bertoias and a Moroccan rug in a kids' space. 12. Jonathan Adler chose these for the patio of the Parker Palm Springs hotel. From the Sunday Times Market.