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Better known for his furniture and sculptures than for his jewelry, Harry Bertoia was head of the metals studio at Cranbrook Academy of Art from 1937 to 1943, where he specialized in forging, chasing, and combining materials to produce modernist works of art. Like Calder, with whom he exhibited jewelry on several occasions, Bertoia made jewelry in modern forms using hammered wire. He was particularly interested in modulating the metal’s surface with hammer marks to create a textured effect. The branching forms of this brooch suggest the movement of organic materials like rippling waves, windswept grass, or microscopic organisms. Nature and microbiology were strong influences as Bertoia’s ideas, forms, and techniques evolved in the 1950s and 60s.
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Brooch
Harry Bertoia (American, born in Italy, 1915–1978)
American
1941
Object Place: Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Medium/Technique
Silver
Dimensions
Overall: 8.6 x 13.3 x 1 cm (3 3/8 x 5 1/4 x 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
The Daphne Farago Collection
Accession Number2017.4932
ClassificationsJewelry / Adornment – Brooches
Better known for his furniture and sculptures than for his jewelry, Harry Bertoia was head of the metals studio at Cranbrook Academy of Art from 1937 to 1943, where he specialized in forging, chasing, and combining materials to produce modernist works of art. Like Calder, with whom he exhibited jewelry on several occasions, Bertoia made jewelry in modern forms using hammered wire. He was particularly interested in modulating the metal’s surface with hammer marks to create a textured effect. The branching forms of this brooch suggest the movement of organic materials like rippling waves, windswept grass, or microscopic organisms. Nature and microbiology were strong influences as Bertoia’s ideas, forms, and techniques evolved in the 1950s and 60s.
DescriptionSilver m-shaped brooch, with three feather-like design elements. Each was created by hammering and folding silver wire, and riveting to attach it to central fame. Silver pin stem horizontal across reverse.
ProvenanceBy 1995, Mark McDonald Gallery, Hudson, NY; May 17, 1995, sold by Mark McDonald to Daphne Farago (b. 1924 - d. 2017), Little Compton, RI; 2017, bequest of Daphne Farago to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 14, 2017)
CopyrightSonambient® and Bertoia