Screen Tree
Screen Tree
Artist
Harry Bertoia
(1915 - 1978)
Dateca. 1955
MediumBrass-coated metal wire
Dimensions57 3/4 x 84 x 11 in. (146.7 x 213.4 x 27.9 cm)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2012.500
Accession number
2012.500
On View
On viewLabel TextThough they are formed from brass-coated wire, the vertical strands in this sculpture look organic and warm. Step back and move slowly from side to side: as the golden rods cross in your vision, the object mimics the experience of passing through a forest of trees.
Harry Bertoia’s metal sculptures emulate the beauty of the natural world. Screen Tree shows his interest in the “golden section” of nature, the mathematical sequence of numbers that underpins the structure of many plants, animals, and even galaxies. Bertoia extended this engagement with natural forms into his design practice, too: his famous welded-wire furniture designs similarly echo the surprising logic to be found in nature.
1966/1990
