Harry Bertoia 1915–1978
Harry Bertoia was a true Renaissance man well versed in the language of art and design. Born in San Lorenzo, Italy in 1915, Bertoia relocated to the United States at the age of fifteen and enrolled at Cass Technical High School in Detroit to study hand-made jewelry. In 1937, Bertoia was awarded a scholarship to attend the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan where he studied under the direction of Maija Grotell and Walter Gropius. Bertoia was drawn to the mostly empty metal shop, and after two years in the program, Bertoia was invited to head the department.
At Cranbrook, Bertoia was introduced to a number of designers whose names would become synonymous with mid-century modern design. Here he met Eero Saarinen, with whom he would collaborate on numerous architectural projects, and Charles and Ray Eames with whom, for a short period during the war, he would work for at the Molded Plywood Division of Evans Products in California. In 1950, Bertoia moved east to Pennsylvania to open his own studio and to work with Florence Knoll designing chairs. Bertoia designed five chairs out of wire that would become icons of the period, all of them popular and all still in production today.
Auction Results Harry Bertoia
Harry Bertoia
untitled (Multi-Plane Construction)
estimate: $500,000–700,000
result: $420,000
Harry Bertoia
untitled (Sonambient)
estimate: $200,000–300,000
result: $408,000
Harry Bertoia
untitled (Hanging Hemisphere)
estimate: $200,000–300,000
result: $384,000
Harry Bertoia
untitled (Dandelion)
estimate: $200,000–300,000
result: $348,000
Harry Bertoia
Untitled (Monumental Sonambient) from the Standard Oil Commission
estimate: $300,000–500,000
result: $341,000
Harry Bertoia
Untitled (Sonambient)
estimate: $200,000–300,000
result: $341,000
Harry Bertoia
untitled (Dandelion)
estimate: $150,000–200,000
result: $284,500
Harry Bertoia
untitled (Dandelion)
estimate: $100,000–150,000
result: $278,500
Harry Bertoia
untitled (Sonambient)
estimate: $300,000–400,000
result: $276,000
Harry Bertoia
Important and Monumental sculptures from Stemmons Towers, Dallas
estimate: $300,000–400,000
result: $263,000
Harry Bertoia
Untitled (Sonambient)
estimate: $100,000–150,000
result: $227,000
Harry Bertoia
untitled (monumental Sonambient)
estimate: $200,000–300,000
result: $221,000
Harry Bertoia
untitled (Tree Form)
estimate: $70,000–90,000
result: $192,000
Harry Bertoia
untitled (Dandelion)
estimate: $200,000–300,000
result: $192,000
Harry Bertoia
untitled (Sonambient)
estimate: $180,000–220,000
result: $180,000
Harry Bertoia
Untitled (Bush Form)
estimate: $50,000–70,000
result: $161,000
Harry Bertoia
untitled (Sonambient)
estimate: $100,000–150,000
result: $158,500
Harry Bertoia
untitled (Welded Form)
estimate: $150,000–200,000
result: $156,000
Harry Bertoia
Untitled (Sonambient)
estimate: $150,000–200,000
result: $149,000
Harry Bertoia
untitled (monumental Bush form)
estimate: $100,000–150,000
result: $146,500
Harry Bertoia
untitled (Sonambient)
estimate: $50,000–70,000
result: $138,000
Harry Bertoia
Important early teapot
estimate: $20,000–30,000
result: $136,900
Harry Bertoia
untitled (Sonambient)
estimate: $100,000–150,000
result: $132,000
Harry Bertoia
untitled (Tonal Sculpture)
estimate: $60,000–80,000
result: $132,000