Houston has a gallery where the art does not just catch the light — it makes music. At the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Harry Bertoia: Echoes in Space fills Level 1 of the Nancy and Rich Kinder Building with shimmering metal sculptures that move, glow and, at their best moments, ring like bells.
Bertoia (1915–1978), an Italian immigrant who became a leading figure of American postwar Modernism, spent three decades exploring what metal could do. The exhibition, drawn largely from the MFAH collections and on view through April 11, 2027, brings together more than a dozen works from the early 1950s through the 1970s, including a monumental brass and copper multiplane construction from the years when his art found kinship with Modernist architecture.
Many of the sculptures take their cues from nature. Bundled wires release into sparkling curtains in the famous Willow forms, echoing branches bending toward the earth, while other pieces suggest dandelions, bushes, cacti and trees — Bertoia’s search to capture nature’s radiance through light and movement.
The stars for many visitors are the three sound sculptures, one more than 11 feet tall, which Bertoia designed to be both seen and heard. Sound activations are scheduled every day at 2:30 p.m., depending on staff availability, turning a quiet gallery visit into a small concert. Member and All Access tickets include same-day admission, and on Thursdays entry to the exhibition is included with a ticket to the permanent collections — a joyful reason to linger a little longer in the Museum District.
Photo: Jessica Giuseppin, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
