Harry Bertoia

Harry Bertoia (1915-1978) emigrated to the United States with his family in 1930 to study sculpture. In 1936, he graduated from the Cass Technical High Scool in Detroit. From 1937 to 1939, he was granted a fellowship at the Cranbrook Academy of Art. He will meet Gropius, the founder of the Bauhaus and the Eames. In 1939 Bertoia y reopened the workshop of metalwork closed since 1933 and directed it until 1943 where the workshop is again closed due to the shortage of materials due to the war. Bertoia moved to Venice, California, with Charles EtRay Eames, with whom he collaborated developing the bending techniques of the plywood. After the war, following a series of disagreements with the Eameses, he joined Knoll. In 1946 he became an American citizen. In 1950 he created his studio and became a designer of Knoll Associates. The success of the series of Metal wire chair made for Knoll in 1951 is such that the royalties he perceives now allow him to devote himself entirely to sculpture. He is best known in this field for his sound works that resonate under the influence of the wind or when they are touched. The power of his design and his taste for technical innovation guaranteed him a place in the pantheon of design, when he realized very few pieces.