Harry Bertoia Artwork valuations, appraisals and auction estimates

Harry Bertoia (1915 – 1978) is universally known as the designer of the famous Diamond chair produced by Knoll in the 1950s. Of Italian origins, he emigrated to the United States at the age of fifteen. Read the full biography

Harry Bertoia (1915 – 1978) is universally known as the designer of the famous Diamond chair produced by Knoll in the 1950s. Of Italian origins, he emigrated to the United States at the age of fifteen. After studying at Detroit Technical High School and the Detroit School of Arts and Crafts, Harry Bertoia opened his own metals workshop in Cranbrook where he taught jewelry design and metalworking. In 1946 he moved to California to help fellow Cranbrook alumnus Charles Eames develop methods of laminating and bending plywood. Bertoia's contributions to the famous Eames chairs were crucial if not well known. In Cranbrook, however, Harry Bertoia had not only had the opportunity to meet and work with the Eameses: among his students there had also been Florence Knoll, who, together with her husband Hans, convinced him to move to Pennsylvania, to work on his sculptures in a laboratory located near the Knoll factory. Free to experiment and express his creativity, in 1952 Bertoia also designed a line of welded metal chairs for Knoll, inspired by the welding he had experimented with on jewels in previous years: the iconic Diamond chair was immediately successful and allowed Bertoia to have a certain financial independence necessary to dedicate himself to his artistic works. Although he designed only one series of furniture, Bertoia continued to be involved in Knoll's history by providing sculptures and architectural installations for Planning Unit projects. He designed an altar for the MIT Chapel, designed by Eero Saarinen. Bertoia spent the next 25 years of his life experimenting with light, sound and volume through sculptures, paintings and architectural installations.