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Val Bertoia Sound Sculptures, 2012

Creator: Val Bertoia
Offered by: Highland Park Modern

Description
Contemporary artist Val Bertoia's pair of Sound Sculptures made in 2012 are part of the Bertoia Sonambient series. The full circle piece is made of 10 brass tops and 2 bronze tops silvered to beryllium-copper rods then silvered to a brass base. These 2012 pieces are inscribed B-1690 and B-1917 on the side of base. The sounding-sculpture B-1690 measures 6-ft x 11" x 11" and the corner piece is B-1917 measuring 6-ft x 17" x 11" (or 12" x 12" along the corner). Each piece is sold with a title of authentication from Bertoia Studio. Sound videos available upon request, please contact the Seller for more information.

Provenance: Acquired directly from Bertoia Studio.

In the early 1970s Designer and Sculptor Harry Bertoia and his son Val, made hundreds of sound sculptures. These sculptures represent Harry Bertoia's formation of Sonambient. Sonambient was Bertoia's term to describe the spatial and tonal environment created by these sound sculptures.

Harry Bertoia created these sculptures of different shapes, length and thickness in order to achieve a range of gentle and sharp sounds. He experimented as a way to seek harmonic balance with the metal, resulting in pure, unique tones. When touched, struck or brushed, these sculptures became abstractions of sound as they sway and knock against one another. The sounds are organic and mysterious, as tones resonate and flow into each other. The completed Sonambient also consists of gongs and suspended sonic-bars.

Val Bertoia, son of artist Harry Bertoia, was born in Santa Monica, California in 1949. In 1950, Harry moved his family to Pennsylvania, to establish a studio, and to work with Hans and Florence Knoll. Val grew up there and went on to study Mechanical Engineering at Indiana Institute of Technology in Ft. Wayne, Indiana in the 1960s. In the 1970s, Val worked with his father, Harry, in making and installing large-scale sculptures for architects worldwide. And by 1979, Val continued the sculpture-business of his father's legacy.

More Information

Documentation:	Signed
Origin:	United States
Period:	New
Materials:	Brass,Copper,Silvered
Condition:	New. Available Now
Creation Date:	2012
Styles / Movements:	Contemporary
Incollect Reference #:	681445