DETROIT — Art history often follows a pattern of creation, fascination, neglect, and eventual rediscovery. In Detroit, the mid-century modern sculptor, designer, and sound artist Harry Bertoia is experiencing a resurgence, both metaphorically and in a literal sense. As a significant sculpture long thought lost re-emerges in the city, the Cranbrook Academy of Art, where Bertoia studied, prepares a retrospective exhibition to celebrate the 90th anniversary of his arrival.
In 1970, the J.L. Hudson Company, a prominent Detroit department store founded in 1881, commissioned Bertoia to create an installation for the Genesee Valley mall in Flint, Michigan. The 26-foot sculpture, composed of clusters of steel-wire rods coated in brass, bronze, and metal alloys, is both evocative and gestural. Initially relocated to Northland Mall in Southfield after the Genesee Valley Mall’s 1980 renovation, the piece disappeared from public view and was presumed lost after the building’s demolition. However, it was rediscovered in 2017 by the Southfield Arts Commission during a basement inspection.
General Motors (GM) has a historic connection with Bertoia and his contemporaries from the Mid-Mod era. Architect Eero Saarinen, a fellow Cranbrook alumnus, designed GM’s Global Technical Center in Warren, Michigan, in 1948. Bertoia’s significant contribution to this site, the ‘Untitled Wall Screen,’ installed in 1955, highlights his industrial design impact. GM’s recent construction at the new Hudson’s building in Detroit included the ambitious reinstallation of this artwork, requiring considerable structural modifications.
Celia Bertoia, the artist’s daughter and director of the Harry Bertoia Foundation, expressed her delight at the sculpture’s reinstallation, despite its limited accessibility, as GM has restricted public access to the area. However, fans of Bertoia’s work can look forward to the Cranbrook Art Museum’s major retrospective, opening in June 2027, to further explore his pioneering contributions across various media.
Andrew Blauvelt, director of the Cranbrook Art Museum, remarked on Bertoia’s lasting impact and the timely rediscovery of his work, underscoring its relevance in today’s evolving art landscape. The upcoming exhibition, ‘Harry Bertoia: A Homecoming,’ will feature over 100 works, highlighting Bertoia’s diverse talents in printmaking, jewelry, sculpture, and furniture design. The exhibition, enriched by recent donations, marks a symbolic return to the place where Bertoia’s artistic journey began.
