Visual art / Architecture & design
Harry Bertoia
1915–1978 · sculptor, furniture and jewelry designer
Italian-born artist who grew up in Detroit, studied at Cass Tech and Cranbrook, and later created the Diamond Chair and sounding sculptures.
- Born
San Lorenzo d'Arzene, Italy- Died
Barto, Pennsylvania
aged 63- Birth name
- Arieto Bertoia
- Also known as
- Arieto Bertoia
- Detroit years
- 1930–1943
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Bertoia left his village in northeastern Italy at 15 and came to Detroit in 1930 to live with his older brother Oreste. He studied art, design and jewelry making at Cass Technical High School, then spent a year at the art school of the Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts. A scholarship took him to the Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1937, where he met Charles and Ray Eames, Florence Knoll and Walter Gropius. In 1939 Eliel Saarinen asked him to reopen Cranbrook's metal workshop, where he taught and made jewelry and monoprints. He left for California in 1943 to work with the Eameses, and later joined Knoll, for which he designed the wire Diamond Chair in 1952. His first major architectural commission came from the Detroit area: a 36-foot metal screen for Eero Saarinen's General Motors Technical Center in 1953. His later tonal Sonambient sculptures are among the best-known sound art of the century.
Highlights
- Arrived in Detroit in 1930 and attended Cass Technical High School
- Reopened and ran Cranbrook's metal workshop from 1939
- Diamond Chair for Knoll (1952)
- Made a large metal screen for the GM Technical Center (1953)
- Created the Sonambient sound sculptures
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 3
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · c. 1930–1936
Cass Technical High School
Detroit's technical high school, where he studied art, design and jewelry; the historic building he attended was replaced by a new one and demolished in 2011.
Studied here · 1937–1943
Cranbrook Academy of Art
Where he studied on scholarship and then ran the metal workshop.
Worked here · 1953
General Motors Technical Center
Site of his first major commission, a 36-foot metal wall screen for Saarinen's campus.