Description:

SET OF FOUR MCM HARRY BERTOIA DIAMOND CHAIRS
American, mid-century. Crosshatched steel in curved diamond forms with attached leather seat covers.

Designer Bio: Harry Bertoia was born in San Lorenzo, Italy on March 10, 1915. He chose to travel to America at the age of 15, joining his older brother Oreste in Detroit. He then enrolled at Cass Technical High School where he learned art, design, and the skill of handmade jewelry. In 1936, he attended the Art School of the Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts, now known as the College of Creative Studies. In 1937, he received a scholarship to continue his studies at the Cranbrook Academy of Art. It was here that he met Walter Gropius, Ray and Charles Eames, and Florence Knoll.

Bertoia moved to California in 1943 to work with Ray and Charles Eames at the Evans Product Company. He attended Santa Monica College to learn welding techniques and began experimenting with sound sculptures. He continued to live in California selling his handmade jewelry and monotypes. In 1950, he was invited to Pennsylvania by Florence and Hans Knoll to work for them. He designed five wire pieces that would come to be known as the Bertoia Collection for Knoll. This includes his famous "diamond chair", more commonly known as the Bertoia Chair. The collection of chairs designed by Bertoia and sold by Knoll sold so well, that the lump sum payment he received allowed him to devote his time exclusively to sound sculpture. He produced over fifty commissioned sculptures that were displayed publicly at Dulles International Airport and the Standard Oil building. He also designed and created hundreds of "Sonambient" sculptures, many of which he installed into an old barn that he renovated.

Bertoia's work can be found at many well respected institutions to this day. This includes the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Cleveland Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Addison Gallery of American Art. You can also find his sculptures in several sculptural centers including the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Center and the Nasher Sculpture Center. After an extensive and immensely successful career, he passed away from lung cancer at the age of 63 on November 6, 1978. It is believed that his lung cancer was in part caused by the toxic fumes he was frequently exposed to in his metal work.

Sources: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Harry-Bertoia, https://harrybertoia.org/harry/
29" height, 33.5" width, 29.5" width

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May 27, 2022 10:00 AM CDT
St. Louis, MO, US

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $29 $5
$30 $99 $10
$100 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $2,999 $100
$3,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $29,999 $1,000
$30,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $299,999 $10,000
$300,000 $499,999 $25,000
$500,000 + $50,000