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Thumbnail-size images of copyrighted artworks are displayed under fair use, in accordance with guidelines recommended by the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for the Visual Arts, published by the College Art Association in February 2015.
Marsupial
Harry Bertoia (American, born in Italy, 1915–1978)
1963
Medium/Technique
Bronze
Dimensions
12 x 20 1/2 in. (12 x 21 1/2 x 17 in. overall)
Credit Line
Melvin Blake and Frank Purnell Collection
Accession Number2003.48
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsContemporary Art, Americas
ClassificationsSculpture
Bertoia's name is often associated with his 1952 design for a domestic chair so celebrated and distinctive that it is known simply as the "Bertoia chair." Easily recognizable, its curved wire mesh seat is supported by a minimalist metal tube frame. He also created sculptures that evoke organic shapes from such industrial items as corrugated metal and nails welded together. Beginning in 1960 he developed his first sound sculptures that did, indeed, create sounds dependent upon the material, scale and number of metal rods he assembled. The sculptures work when activated by touch or wind; as one metal rod moves it collides with others in the piece, producing chime-like effects that are randomized yet beautiful.
ProvenanceBy 1963, Harry Bertoia, (American b. 1915- d. 1978); about 1963, Staempfli Gallery, New York; about 1963, purchased by Melvin N. Blake (b. 1927 - d. 1999) and Frank M. Purnell (b. 1930 - d. 1994), New York; 2003, gift of the estate of Melvin Blake to MFA. (Accession date: January 22, 2003)
CopyrightSonambient® and Bertoia