DALLAS, TX.- "Is it a screen? Is it a chair? Is it a work of art? Harry Bertoia didn't worry so much about it. Art has the ability to have an impact on our everyday life, whether it's something that someone can wear or something that you come across walking through a city plaza or the chair that comforts you at the end of the day. All of those things Bertoia felt had a significant impact on our everyday lives." --Jed Morse, Chief Curator, Nasher Sculpture Center

Just last year, the renowned Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas opened the major retrospective Harry Bertoia: Sculpting Mid-Century Modern Life. The exhibition showcased the artist's astonishing range and playful interdisciplinary practice; Bertoia was never one to be boxed in and he didn't think art should be, either. The highlights of the show were Bertoia's innovative and charming screens, his enigmatic bush forms (sometimes referred to as dandelions), and of course his pioneering sound sculptures. On full display throughout the museum was Bertoia's openness and intellectual curiosity, and his enthusiasm about a modernizing post-War world and its attendant emergent technologies. The charisma of Bertoia's work is undeniable; one could say it sings.

One of Bertoia's "Sonambient" works will be offered by Heritage on Nov. 7, alongside one of his famous screens and one of his bush forms, in its Design Signature® Auction. This gathering of substantial copper, bronze and brass Bertoia works, all of which have been added to Bertoia's official Catalogue Raisonné, leads a design event that illuminates not just American-led innovation by the likes of Bertoia, Dale Chihuly, and Frank Lloyd Wright, but also showcases the strength of the 20th century in pieces from artists working on other continents. The auction is a testament to a powerful creative wave that began after World War II and continues to resonate.

"Drawn from private collections, the three Harry Bertoia works featured in our upcoming auction demonstrate the sculptor's diverse body of work," says Samantha Robinson, Heritage's Director of Decorative Art and Design. "The dynamic interplay between forms and the negative spaces within them is on full display."

Sixteen works by glass pioneer Dale Chihuly are in this auction: The American artist's sculptures and installations have contributed to the elevation of the medium from utilitarian objects to works of art. Works from his best-known series are here, including this blown-glass three-piece Paris blue Basket set (2001) from his Basket series. This one, in striking blue with a yellow lip wrap, epitomizes the artist's method of setting smaller forms within a larger vessel. Chihuly's Macchia series, named for the Italian word for "spot," are characterized by flared and undulating rims and of course inventive use of color, and can measure up to four feet in diameter. Heritage's event features two massive Macchia, including a monumental ultramarine Macchia with yellow lip wrap from 1989. And for so many collectors and fans, Chihuly is best known for his Chandelier series, which he kicked off in 1992, intrigued by a chandelier's ability to transform a space through color and light. Chihuly chandeliers are installed prominently in some of the most influential public and private institutions in the world, and a set of four chandeliers and a pair of rare sconces, both commissions, will be offered by Heritage on Nov. 7.

Other highlights in the event include the gilt bronze showstopper Pomme Bouche by celebrated French sculptor Claude Lalanne. This one, designed in 1975 and executed in 1980, embodies her surrealistic and unexpected impulse and is exactly as it is named: A set of silent bronze lips jut from a faithful bronze apple. Eighteen works from an important private collection by Japanese ceramicist Yuji Ueda are here, including this bewitching, partially glazed and ruddy Large Vessel that pushes through its own rough and earthy core. And, harkening back to the dominance of American mid-century icons a la Bertoia, a pair of Vladimir Kagan's barrel armchairs, designed 1947, are included – these two in walnut with blood-orange boucle upholstery.