Introduction

Few artists in the history of American art have possessed the level of Harry Bertschmann’s genius and output. In order to help viewers absorb the diversity and depth of his life’s work, we have structured this website to run parallel with the twenty chapters of the hardcover monograph. Together they stand as testament to an artistic polymath whose feats in visual gymnastics reveal an uncanny natural reflex to jump back into modes of expression that at times seem to be irreconcilable opposites. After graduating at the top of his class of 1949 at the Basel School of Design in Switzerland he found success as a graphic designer, first in Cleveland, and from 1962-on in New York. By nature, humble and unpretentious, he was nonetheless acutely aware of his skills and gifted vision. Every day throughout his life he made visual leaps that challenged emerging movements. Persistently experimental, he delighted in discovering new dynamics — not only within abstract and figurative expressionism but in stylistic movements as seemingly disparate as Hard Edge, Photorealism, Minimalism, and Pop. He was blessed with such ambidextrous skill, coordination, and vision that he was like a professional athlete who could perform exceedingly well at a different sport on any day.

The back story is that Bertschmann is a master who led double lives, first earning a living by day as a graphic designer. Walk into any CVS or Walmart and you’ll see a dozen packaging designs that have remained iconic in brand recognition within America’s consumer culture. Kent and Newport cigarettes, Nestlé’s, Advil, Excedrin, and Bufferin are but a few.  By night he steadfastly pursued his fine art, fluidly alternating between two paths of expressionism — figurative and abstract. Within these two major genres he produced series after series but largely avoided exhibiting them. Indeed, owing to his success in the commercial world, the pursuit of galleries was never a pressing matter. That is why his immaculate studio became an astonishing time capsule preserving hundreds of rolled canvases and seventy years of paintings on paper, pastels, and drawings in a series of large flat files. His total output of unique artworks approaches that of Picasso.

The reader may notice that the journey through both this website and the book tries to adhere to some sense of chronological order. Bertschmann’s journey of discovery and practice of revisiting previous series makes that difficult. Whereas the majority of artists’ careers may be plotted as curved lines on a graph, his prolific output is represented by so many series that mapping such a course looks much more like a constellation.