Harry Bertoia was an Italian-born American artist and designer whose career spanned jewelry, furniture, and large-scale sculptures, with his most famous creations being the Bertoia wire chairs for Knoll. After moving to Detroit, he studied at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, where he met influential figures like Charles and Ray Eames, Walter Gropius, and Florence Knoll. His work with Eames on bent plywood chairs and later, his own iconic wire chair collection for Knoll, cemented his place in design history. He later focused on creating large-scale metal sound sculptures, often working with his son Val.