A remarkable mid-century sculpture by internationally renowned artist Harry Bertoia, missing for decades, has found a new home in the atrium of Detroit's new Hudson's/General Motors headquarters. The striking piece, originally commissioned in 1970 for Flint's Genesee Valley Center, was rediscovered in 2017 in the basement of a Detroit-area mall after being lost to public view for nearly four decades.
The sculpture originally featured two large clouds of brazed metal rods that Bertoia affectionately called "sunlit straw," which hung dramatically in the Genesee Valley Center's multi-story court. However, when the mall was sold and renovated in 1980, the valuable artwork mysteriously vanished from public display, leaving art enthusiasts and collectors wondering about its fate.
The dramatic rediscovery occurred in 2017 when Terri Stearn of Detroit Fine Arts Appraisal and Jeffrey Lygon, owner of Fantoni and both former members of the Southfield Arts Commission, were called to examine items in the basement of Southfield's Northland Mall. "They said, 'If it's just good metal, we can scrap it and get some money for it,'" Stearn recalled of that momentous day. "We had hard hats on, it was dirty, there was no electricity down there; we had flashlights, and I'm looking at this thing with Jeff, and it's corroded in dust. You can't even knock the dust off; it's been there for decades."
The moment of recognition was electric for both art experts. "I look at Jeff, and we both go, 'Bertoia!' at the same time. It was so exciting. We screamed, we were so excited – like kids in a candy store. I said, 'Jeff, this is something that has been missing, I bet you,'" Stearn remembered. She explained the historical context of such commissioned works: "Back in that day, it was really normal to spend a lot of money on nice sculptures for malls. They were really expensive for the time, like maybe $30,000 or $40,000, but are worth hundreds of thousands now. Malls were really starting to pop up and be really important, and they were making them luxury malls."
Harry Bertoia's connection to Detroit runs deep through his formative years and artistic development. Born in Italy in 1915, he immigrated to America at age 15 and attended Detroit's Cass Technical School before continuing his education at the College for Creative Studies and later the prestigious Cranbrook Academy of Art. He would eventually become one of the mid-century art movement's most internationally praised masters. In 1943, he married fellow Cranbrook student Brigitta Valentiner, whose father Wilhelm served as director of the Detroit Institute of Arts at the time, further cementing his ties to the Detroit art community.
Celia Bertoia, the artist's daughter who now runs a Utah-based foundation dedicated to protecting and advancing her father's artistic legacy, describes the rediscovered sculpture as "very important." She explained the piece's origins: "This was a collaboration with Victor Gruen Associates and Louis Redstone Associates back in 1970, and the director of the Hudson art gallery. He was a go-between of various artists and these architects, and they pulled in my father for this project. They wanted something that was going to be hanging in their open court, so he came up with this piece."
The technical aspects of the sculpture demonstrate Bertoia's innovative approach to materials and engineering. "It was originally hung from a single point, which in itself is kind of miraculous, because I'm sure it weighs literally about a ton," Celia noted. "It's basically just steel wire that is melt-coated with brass, bronze and various other alloys to create a great texture on these wires. We affectionately refer to this type of sculpture as 'straw.' It's a wonderful piece."
Celia Bertoia has been intimately involved in the sculpture's journey from basement discovery to public display. "I got a call several years ago that they had discovered this piece in a basement, and they sent me some photos where I couldn't even fully tell what the heck it was," she recalled. "But, after researching it and trying to decipher what these photos were, we came to the conclusion that this was indeed a Bertoia sculpture – the original one that had been at the Genesee mall. It was a wonderful surprise, and there it was in a dark, dingy basement, all bent up."
The restoration process required careful expertise and significant investment to return the sculpture to its former glory. "I know they had to go through a major process of having it conserved and cleaned and repaired. They got the right people to do the conservation on it," Celia explained. The meticulous work paid off, as the piece now occupies a prominent position in one of Detroit's most significant new developments.
Harry Bertoia passed away from lung cancer in 1978, but his artistic legacy continues to inspire and captivate audiences worldwide. The placement of this recovered sculpture in the Hudson's/General Motors headquarters represents not only a triumph of art preservation but also a symbolic connection between Detroit's industrial heritage and its cultural renaissance.
The Harry Bertoia Foundation expresses great satisfaction with the sculpture's new home and public accessibility. "Now, it's in a glorious spot there. It's fabulous. The Harry Bertoia Foundation is really happy to see it out in the public eye again, where everyone can enjoy it, and we hope that happens with a few other monumental sculptures that are hiding out there," Celia concluded, hinting at the possibility that other lost masterpieces may still await rediscovery in forgotten corners of American cities.
