Artist

Norm Sartorius

born Salisbury, MD 1947
Media - sartorius_norm.jpg - 90528
Courtesy Norm Sartorius.
Born
Salisbury, Maryland, United States
Active in
  • Parkersburg, West Virginia, United States
Biography

Norm Sartorius left his job as a social worker in Baltimore in the 1970s to live in rural West Virginia. He apprenticed to a woodworker for six months and learned to carve letter openers, shoehorns, canes, and spoons. He made a living from selling craft items and quickly discovered the popularity of his unusual spoons. By 1989, Sartorius had devoted his work entirely to crafting unique spoons from exotic woods.

Works by this artist (9 items)

Norm Sartorius, Spoon from a Forgotten Ceremony, 1994, dogwood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John and Robyn Horn, 1994.75, © 1994, Norm Sartorius
Spoon from a Forgotten Ceremony
Date1994
dogwood
Not on view
Norm Sartorius, Conquistador, 2012, Honduras rosewood burl, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Fleur S. Bresler, S. Bruce and Eleanor Heister, Patricia A. McCauley, James L. Pavitt and Carolyn K. Stettner, and Kenneth Spitzbard, 2012.46, © 2012, Norm Sartorius
Conquistador
Date2012
Honduras rosewood burl
Not on view
Norm Sartorius, Antarctic Beech Letter Opener, 2006, myrtle beech, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Ronald and Kay Springwater, 2012.26.1, © 2006, Norm Sartorius
Antarctic Beech Letter Opener
Date2006
myrtle beech
Not on view
Norm Sartorius, Mutation, 1999, Mexican blue oak burl, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John and Robyn Horn, Fleur Bresler, and Kenneth R. Trapp, 2000.15, © 1999, Norm Sartorius
Mutation
Date1999
Mexican blue oak burl
Not on view

Exhibitions

Media - 2003.60.2 - SAAM-2003.60.2_3 - 128176
A Revolution in Wood: The Bresler Collection
September 23, 2010January 30, 2011
A Revolution in Wood: The Bresler Collection celebrates the magnificent gift of sixty-six pieces of turned and carved wood to the Smithsonian American Art Museum by the noted collectors, Fleur and Charles Bresler.