Wharton Esherick

Sculptor and furniture-maker Wharton Esherick (1887-1970) was known as the Dean of American CraftsmenA" in his lifetime. He is perhaps best remembered for his sculptural, handcrafted furniture and objects, which elevated ordinary household objects to the level of fine art. Esherick began his career [...]
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Sculptor and furniture-maker Wharton Esherick (1887-1970) was known as the Dean of American CraftsmenA" in his lifetime. He is perhaps best remembered for his sculptural, handcrafted furniture and objects, which elevated ordinary household objects to the level of fine art. Esherick began his career as a painter, but in the 1920s he discovered a new muse and medium as he began to carve the curvilinear furniture that would make him one of the most famous American furniture-makers even to this day. Perhaps his greatest legacy is the house he lovingly crafted entirely by hand in the woods of Paoli, Pennsylvania, for which he conceived and shaped every stairwell, sink, spoon, table, desk and chair. His designs are highly evocative of Danish modern, decades before the 1970s when that style swept America. The Art Institute of Architects noted: He led, not followed, the ScandanaviansA". Esherick's work has influenced generations of artists and craftsmen and his legacy is increasingly evident in the tradition of hand-crafted studio furniture alive in America and around the world.This stunning visual biography displays the work of the beloved American craftsman, with a text penned by his son-in-law Mansfield Bascom, who now curates the museum that maintains Esherick's work and memory.