The Bertoia series by Harry Bertoia
In the early 1950s, Italian-born designer Harry Bertoia created a whole series of chairs, lounge chairs and stools after Hans and Florence Knoll provided him with a studio near East Greenville, Pennsylvania, in the USA. The studio gave him the space to realise his artistic ideas without restrictions.
Bertoia put his ideas into practice himself, constantly creating new variations, and was never finished or satisfied. He always thought in groups, which is why there are so many functional Bertoia chairs today. For dining, sleeping or sitting, indoors and outdoors, with or without upholstery, there's a fitting piece in the series for every room and every situation. All pieces of this "wire furniture" are hand-drawn and hand-welded in a highly complex process. Bertoia saw his chairs as "studies in space, form and metal".
Today, Bertoia chairs are held in the collections of many well-known design museums. They have a classic modern design that enhances any setting. The delicate formal language of the series is more reminiscent of sculpture than of conventional seating, yet the chairs, armchairs and stools are extremely comfortable and meet all the practical requirements of seating.
Knoll offers the Bertoia series in various versions: with or without seat cushions, fully upholstered, with a chrome-plated or satin chrome frame, or with a Rilsan-coated frame as an outdoor model.
