Brazing – The process of joining two pieces of metal by inserting between them filler metal with a very high melting point and applying heat at temperatures between 750 and 900 degrees Celsius.
Bundled Wire – Sculptures made up of hundreds, sometimes even thousands, of pieces of thin flexible wire, gathered or bound together at least at one point through welding, soldering, or other attachment to a base. Usually made with stainless or stainless steel wire.
Pod – A type of sculpture in which gathered wire is bound together at a top and bottom point in order to create a bulbous center shape, resembling a seed pod.
Pine Tree – A type of sculpture in which small clusters of gathered wire hang off a central metal rod, reminiscent of the needles on a pine tree.
Spray – A type of sculpture in which a bundle of thin wires are gathered, often twisted, and affixed to a base, creating a vertical “spray” effect at the top. Also sometimes referred to as a "plume" or "wheat." While most are comprised of a single bundle, some do have multiple bundles, often of varying heights.
Willow – A type of sculpture in which a long single bundle of gathered wire is attached to a central metal rod or fixture and then fanned outward causing the wires to cascade downward, in a manner resembling a willow tree.
Bush – A sculptural form composed of numerous pieces of welded metal radiating outward from a core or “trunk,” usually a rod, in a dense system of “branches.” The ends of the branches are often finished by twisting rods or wires into slightly enlarged tips. These sculptures possess a central core similar to the dandelions but have a much shorter “stem.”
Commission – An artwork or project initiated by request of an external party, usually involving an official contract and/or an approval process. Bertoia realized numerous commissions over the course of his career. These are classified by the type of commissioner or location, including:
Corporate – A commission made for a private or publicly traded business.
Ecclesiastical – A commission made for a religious structure or entity.
Fountain – A commission installed in or made for a water feature.
Private – A commission, usually smaller or domestic in scale, made for an individual/ private collector.
Public – A commission requested by and paid for through a civic, federal, or governmental agency, usually sited in a publicly accessible location.
Dandelion – A sculptural form composed of numerous thin pieces of metal, radiating outward in a centrifugal configuration, usually attached to a tall, single rod, in a manner resembling the seed head of a dandelion plant; similar to a bush but with a longer “stem” and a more open top form. It is particularly prevalent in the category of Wire Form sculptures.
Direct Forging – A group of sculptures, made from industrially fabricated pieces of bronze or other metals, which were often leftover or discarded from other sculptures, directly shaped through forging. Forging is a type of metal forming process that involves the heating of metal and then altering it through hammering, bending, or beating. These sculptures were often created quickly, without much advanced planning, and thus share much with Bertoia’s intuitive monotype practice. They are also usually small in size and have a variety of patinas.
Formed Bronze – A formally eclectic group of sculptures all made from bronze rods, plates, slabs, and other pieces, directly manipulated into new shapes by the artist’s hand but still maintaining some recognizable elements of their original industrial forms.
Melt Press – Both a group of sculptures and a technique within Bertoia’s sculptural practice. The technique involves heating and compressing bronze rods of various lengths, usually in a downward motion and sometimes to such an extreme that the final work is little more than a thick coin or disc of dense, textured bronze. Melt-press components, again created by pressing pieces of heated metal, sometimes appear in other Direct Forging works.
Flower – Closely related to bushes, this less common type of sculpture has a more open form and sometimes includes additional welded elements that resemble petals, pistils, seed pods, or other parts of flowers.
Freestanding – Sculptures, particularly multiplane constructions, that stand on their own and are unattached to a ceiling, wall, supporting unit, or other type of architectural structure.
Kinetic – Artworks that incorporate some type of motion, whether generated through natural or mechanical forces.
Landscape Sculpture – Horizontally-oriented welded or wire sculptural forms in which multiple vertical elements emerge from a single flat base.
Maquette – In sculpture, it designates a kind of rough, three-dimensional sketch. It can also reference a “scale model” used to visualize how a design object or piece of sculpture might look and/or be fabricated.
Materials – The matter or substance from which a thing is or may be made; the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of an artwork or other physical object. Bertoia’s most frequently used sculptural materials included:
Aluminum – A pure metallic element, known for its silver-white appearance.
Beryllium Copper – An alloy of copper and beryllium usually containing not more than 3% of beryllium. The alloy has a bronze-like, crystalline structure and is particularly notable for withstanding wear and corrosion.
Brass – An alloy made primarily of copper, with zinc up to 40% by weight. It is differentiated from the copper-predominant alloy bronze by the significant presence of zinc and the absence of tin.
Bronze – A broad range of alloys made from alloys of non-ferrous copper, tin, and zinc, or other trace metals. Copper is the dominant element, making bronze malleable and relatively easy to manipulate.
Copper Tubing – Industrially manufactured tubing made of copper, most commonly used for water lines or heating systems.
Cupronickel – An alloy predominantly composed of copper and nickel, with some additional strengthening agents like iron and manganese. Different from Monel in that copper is the dominant metal, typically 60-90%.
Cut Nails – Nails having sharp edges along the four sides of the shank and often a flat, rectangular point at the top. Commonly found at hardware stores and used in construction or for hardwood flooring.
Inconel – A trademarked group of alloys made predominantly from nickel, with chromium as the second element. Developed by the International Nickel Company, typically used in the manufacture of food and dairy equipment.
Monel – A trademarked group of alloys composed of nickel (minimum 52%) and copper, with small amounts of iron, manganese, carbon, and silicon. Developed by the International Nickel Company and particularly resistant to corrosion.
Naval Brass – A type of brass, notable for its strength and resistance to corrosion; traditionally used in marine equipment and construction.
Nickel Alloy – Any alloy containing nickel as the base metal or chief alloying element.
Nickel Silver – Alloy of copper, nickel, and zinc, with nickel used to enhance the color.
Phosphor Bronze – A copper alloy containing tin and small amounts of phosphorus.
Silicon Bronze – Copper-silicon alloy, created either by fluxing pure copper with silicon, leaving only trace amounts of silicon, or combining some amount of silicon with either a brass or aluminum bronze.
Stainless Steel – A group of alloys made from iron and chromium, used for their non-rusting, corrosion-resistant qualities.
Steel – Any alloy made of iron with carbon added to improve strength and durability. Often incorporates other elements of manganese, chromium, nickel, copper, tungsten, or silicon.
Tobin Bronze – A copper, tin, and zinc alloy, often used for brazing; also called Naval brass.
Melt-Coating – The process of covering a surface with a melted layer or layers of metal(s). Bertoia often treated sculptures with multiple melt coats, creating built-up or highly textured surfaces.
Model – In design or sculpture, something that serves as a pattern or form to follow or copy in realizing a larger project or work.
Multiplane – Sculptures constructed from pieces of sheet metal, usually rectangular or square, welded and/or brazed to wires or rods in horizontal rows at varying depths to create a layered, geometric framework. The individual pieces of metal that form the sculptures have irregular textures, often the result of melt-coating.
Burst – A type of multiplane construction in which small pieces of sheet metal are brazed onto the ends of long rods or wires that radiate outward from a central core or armature, usually hung from a wall or backing support.
Color Panels – A type of multiplane construction in which color is the dominant form. Instead of melt-coated pieces of sheet metal, Bertoia used enameled or painted pieces of metal or other materials like wood or asbestos. Bertoia realized only a small number of works in this style.
Tree – Multiplane constructions in which the individual metal pieces radiate outward from a central rod or vertical “trunk” in a tree-like form.
Nail Form – Sculptures made primarily from common, cut, or other types of industrially-manufactured nails, and welded together; similar to many wire form sculptures and formally diverse as a group.
Open Construction – A type of sculpture composed of cut nails welded together. The space between the metal elements creates an open, permeable form.
Pod – A relatively rare type of sculpture composed of welded metal pieces, usually spherical, that are partially encircled by cut nails. The form resembles seeds in a seed pod and is attached to a thick central rod or metal post.
Sunflower – Similar in form to dandelion but lacking a central core, this type of sculpture consists of cut nails pointing outward in a circular or spiral like arrangement that resembles a sunflower.
Patina – An aged appearance caused by environmental factors, acquired naturally or artificially induced; often refers to a surface layer on metal caused by oxidation or corrosion.
Patination – The formation or creation of a patina, whether produced naturally as an effect of weathering or oxidation, or artificially induced in the studio, through chemicals or additional surface treatments.
Plating – The process of coating an object with a thin layer of metal, most commonly gold or silver.
Rod Form – Similar in form both to some wire forms and tonals, this type of sculpture is defined by the use of thicker and/or far more inflexible, rigid rods. Examples include both freestanding works and those suspended in the air.
Screen – Sculpture that functions as an ornamental partition, often intended to divide or demarcate interior architectural spaces. Particularly prevalent within multiplane constructions.
Solder – Metal alloys, traditionally lead or tin though now more commonly silver, used in the process of soldering. The alloy must have a lower melting point than the metal surfaces it is used to join.
Soldering – Using metal to join together two other pieces of metal. It is similar to brazing but carried out at temperatures under 750 degrees Celsius, usually between 183 and 310 degrees Celsius.
Spill Cast – A type of sculpture created by a new technique Bertoia developed in the 1960s, which involved pouring molten bronze into a shallow pit. After cooling, the bronze hardened and emerged as a sculptural object with an intricately textured and colored surface.
Spill Casting – The technique Bertoia developed to create his spill cast sculptures. Bertoia manipulated bronze in its liquid form by changing temperatures, swirling or moving around the metal with tools, and adding water or foreign elements like rocks and crystallized chemicals that caused small explosions, all of which led to varying degrees of punctured and patinated surfaces in the final works.
Suspended – Sculptures that are displayed hanging from a ceiling or other elevated structure, often in a manner that allows for free movement.
Tabletop – Smaller-scaled sculptures made to be placed atop furniture, like tables.
Tree – Sculptures that resemble the structures of trees, owing to the presence of a single, trunk-like central rod or post and additional sculptural elements that branch outward from this “trunk.” Examples include freestanding pieces as well as those hung on a wall.
Welding – The process of joining together two pieces of metal by softening or melting the surfaces through the application of heat. Can be completed with or without inserting filler metal (see: brazing; soldering) and with or without the application of pressure.
Welded Form – Sculptures in which the basic technique of welding is a defining characteristic. Predominantly made in bronze, the resulting pieces are the most abundant and diverse within Bertoia’s practice.
Fused Shot – A type of sculpture and a technique involving the fusing together of small circular bronze shot (small metal pellet or ball) and welding those forms to various bases or armatures.
Large Bush – Similar in structure to Bertoia’s welded bush forms, but much larger, more complex, and irregular in shape. Notable for their green patina.
Welded Tubing – Sculptures created by welding together industrial copper tubing; usually large-scale commissions.
Welded Wire – Similar to the welded tubing works, Bertoia created these sculptures using a unique technique that involved forging and welding together individual wires into a wide variety of forms.
Wire Form – Sculptures in which metal wire is the primary or dominant element.
Balancing Work – A type of wire sculpture, usually horizontally oriented, that incorporates moveable components balanced atop other vertical components.
Cloud – A suspended construction made from various lengths of wire, creating an open, permeable form that resembles a cloud; sometimes also includes multiplane metal pieces.
Straw – A dense construction of various lengths of wire that is often melt-coated or gilded and incorporates other small pieces of metal. Created as a suspended sculpture, a freestanding form, or screen; resembles straw or hay.
Wire Construction – A type of sculpture in which an open form is constructed by connecting numerous pieces of metal wire.