GREENWICH, CT.- On October 14, 2023, the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, CT will present Harry Bertoia: Sculpture for Living, an exhibition featuring fifteen exemplary sculptures and furniture designs by Bertoia, some never-before exhibited.

While Harry Bertoia (American, b. Italy, 1915–1978) is well known for his sculptures and pioneering use of sound as sculptural material, most of his creative output was made for domestic spaces, to be actively lived with not passively observed. From the beginning of his career, he frequently made works for friends and family, and his now-iconic collection of seating for Knoll revolutionized the way we perceive and interact with furniture and helped define midcentury modern interiors and outdoor living spaces. These functional pieces, renowned for their elegant and minimalist aesthetic, continue to be coveted by homeowners and collectors alike.

Harry Bertoia: Sculpture for Living is guest curated by Dr. Marin R. Sullivan, Director of the Harry Bertoia Catalogue Raisonné, and draws from the collection of the Harry Bertoia Foundation, including a selection of tonal sculptures from the so-called Sonambient Barn on the artist’s property in Pennsylvania, as well as from select private and public collections in New York and Connecticut.

"Bertoia was a tremendously innovative, formally ambitious sculptor who worked across a myriad of materials, techniques, and scales over the course of his four-decade-long career. This exhibition offers an opportunity to consider the broad range of work he created for domestic interiors and to consider the ways in which sculpture shapes the spaces we inhabit."

BRUCE MUSEUM

Located in Bruce Park overlooking Greenwich Harbor, the Bruce Museum is a community- based, world-class institution that offers a changing array of exhibitions and educational programs to promote the understanding and appreciation of art and science.

For over a century the Bruce Museum has delighted and engaged its visitors by presenting exceptional exhibitions in art, science, and the intersections between the two disciplines. Now recognized as ahead of its time when textile merchant Robert Moffat Bruce (1822-1909) conceived of the museum and bequeathed the building to the Town of Greenwich in 1908, the Museum is at the heart of contemporary efforts to bring together art and science, technology and creativity, creating moments of discovery and dialogue. The first exhibition at the Bruce Museum took place in 1912 and featured works by local artists known as the Greenwich Society of Artists, several of whom were members of the Cos Cob art colony. Their works formed the nucleus of the Museum's art holdings and continue to be a strength of a collection which has grown to focus on global art from 1850 to the present. Other strengths include Native American Art, modernist works on paper, and photography. Over the years, the community, through its generosity, has built the Museum’s varied collection to nearly 30,000 objects. Early Museum directors pursued a parallel development of the natural sciences, building strengths in the mineral and avian collections.

In 2019, the AAM-accredited Museum broke ground on an ambitious expansion project, which took the building from 33,000 to over 70,000 square feet. The New Bruce features state-of-the- art exhibition, education, and community spaces, including: a changing gallery for art and five new permanent galleries in the new William L. Richter Art Wing; a changing gallery for science; a new permanent science exhibition, Natural Cycles Shape Our Land; three new classrooms in the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Education Wing; and a café, an auditorium, and grand hall.
The new building now connects the Museum to its picturesque setting in Bruce Park in dramatic ways. The new Bruce campus will feature a sculpture-lined, landscaped walking path and inviting spaces for relaxation and contemplation—natural enhancements to Bruce Park and an anchoring connection to the retail hub of Greenwich Avenue. The grand opening of the new Bruce was on April 2, 2023.

The Bruce Museum
Harry Bertoia: Sculpture for Living
October 14th, 2023 - April 7th, 2023