The Harry Bertoia Foundation is bursting with new projects and the office is alive with a sense of exciting possibilities.
The ongoing exhibitions at the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in New York have been enthusiastically received, with a packed opening night celebration on May 3rd and numerous sold-out special events throughout the summer.
"Atmosphere for Enjoyment" at MAD Museum in New York City.
The number of requests, questions, and invitations for the Foundation has increased madly (pun intended)!
The show is up until September 25th.
All of this fresh appreciation for Sonambient led to a feature on NPR!
"Sound Sculptor Harry Bertoia Created Musical, Meditative Art"
We had fun with local fans in Montana when GIVE BIG, a community fundraising event in Bozeman, gave us an excuse to open our doors and show the Foundation's collection.
Along with the media coverage generated by these events, we noted some questions from Bertoia fans about the future of the Sonambient Barn collection.
Our search for a home for Sonambient, as per Harry's wishes, has attracted several serious possibilities and the process is moving forward.
We are also working on a stunning new website for the Harry Bertoia Foundation which will be unveiled in the fall. It will be mobile friendly and boast all new beautiful photos.
Our limited edition "Centennial Table Tonal," the 12 inch tall sounding sculpture, is now available only through the Museum of Arts and Design. There are only five remaining:
By popular demand, we are working on another limited edition reproduction, to be introduced in the fall of 2016. It's lovely! Stay tuned for more details.
The brooches are almost sold out as well, so if you want one, buy now!
These brooches beautifully evoke the inspiration of the natural world:
We are thrilled to announce that we are actively seeking data on Harry Bertoia jewelry for the Catalogue Raisonné. Our volunteer staff is collecting and entering data and our behind-the-scenes experts are testing out various catalogue software platforms.
If you have (or know of) jewelry, tea sets, or other small functional items we would love to hear from you. Kindly submit your application at the link above for inclusion of your piece(s) in the Catalogue.
We are basing our model on the J. Paul Getty Object ID and eventually adding interactive live fields to exhibition records and publications. Someday, fans, dealers, auctioneers, students, museum personnel, and others will be able to find and browse extensive information in an elegant, modern, user-friendly interface.
In addition to the factual data on each item; such as date created, provenance and other statistics; we will provide the full, rich, context behind each piece—any stories behind its creation, exhibition history, publications it has been featured in, and more.
We are continuing to seek out experts in this field to assist in research and advice.
If you have experience or expertise you would like to share, or if you're simply excited at the thought of working with the Harry Bertoia Archives, contact us and get involved!
MODERNISM ATLANTA!
Design is Human
The latest lecture in Atlanta, GA, held at the Knoll showroom in midtown, attracted designers, architects and students of the area. I love to share the personal anecdotes of furniture history, and educate folks about my father's vast oeuvre of metal work. From monumental public commissions to delicate brooches, he tapped into some other world that most of us only experience once in our lives, if at all.
If you are interested in a presentation for your group, let us know when and where and what your event is all about.
Upcoming lectures are planned for the Ft. Lauderdale area in mid-September and Woodmere Art Museum in Philadelphia on October 8th.
Speaking of the Woodmere, we are excited to announce that Woodmere's beautiful gardens now host a 1967 biomorphic sculpture by Bertoia that once brightened the grounds of the Philadelphia Civic Center.
Free Interpretation of Plant Forms
Since the Civic Center was torn down years ago, the huge sculpture had been suffocating in a tiny storage facility. Harry would be so happy to see his "Free Interpretation of Plant Form" grace its new grounds.
Along with the re-location of the welded monolith, Woodmere will hold a monotype exhibition beginning August 20th and now has Bertoia limited edition jewelry available in their store.
All That Sparkles at the Bechtler Museum in Charlotte, NC from July 2nd to January 8th, will includes Bertoia jewelry and monotypes from the Harry Bertoia Foundation alongside Giacometti's jewelry.
The Bechtler opened in 2010, and holds a surprising collection of Miros, Picassos, Calders, Warhols which once belonged to the Bechtler family of Switzerland. Don’t miss it – it’s a gem.
By fall, we expect to have even more exciting news for you, so enjoy those warm summer evenings and stand by!
