Harry Bertoia: Monotypes and Sculptures
April 5 - May 12, 2013
Adelson Galleries Boston is pleased to exhibit the monotypes and sculpture of Harry Bertoia (1915-1978).
The Italian-born artist moved to the United States at age 15 with his father, and enrolled in the Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts. By 1937, he was awarded a scholarship to the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield, MI, where he studied under many famous artists and designers, such as Walter Gropius. The experience was a turning point in Bertoia’s life, and allowed him to experiment with new forms of artwork. He began producing a variety of sculpture as well as one-of-a-kind monotypes (or monoprints), whereby he would ink glass, press rice paper ontoit, and then etch designs with tools or his fingers on the backside of the paper. Each “print” is unique, and of the many that he made, no two are alike. In 1943, Bertoia exhibited 19 of these monotypes at the Guggenheim Museum of Non-Objective Art in a group show, alongside works by Moholy-Nagy and others. Bertoia continued making monotypes until the end of his life – he could produce them quickly and they were instrumental as preliminary drawings for all of his designs.