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AN INSIDE LOOK: A tour of artist Wharton Esherick’s home and studio gives patrons of West Windsor Arts’ Lunchtime Gallery Series a close look at his life and art.
By Anne Levin
When visitors touring the Wharton Esherick Museum in Chester County, Pa., are taken through the American artist’s handcrafted home studio, tour guides frequently have to remind them not to make themselves comfortable on the one-of-a-kind furniture.
“It’s inviting. It invites you to touch it,” said Ethan Snyder, the museum’s manager of collections and public programs, who will deliver a Zoom talk about the artist on Thursday, April 18 from 12 to 1 p.m., sponsored by West Windsor Arts. “People always want to get close to it, and we have to remind them not to.”
Many museums throughout the country — including the Whitney Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Metropolitan Museum — have works by Esherick in their collections. The Esherick Museum, on a 12-acre property that is a National Historic Landmark and part of the National Trust’s Historic Artists’ Homes and Studios program, provides a unique opportunity for visitors to immerse themselves in his world.
“Nothing comes close to walking through his home and studio. It’s a whole environment,” said Snyder, “down to the doorknobs and the light switches. It really feels like you are living and spending time in an artist’s imagination. You never see things the same way twice. Even those who work here and see it all the time will say, ‘I never noticed that before.’ There are always things to be discovered, from the furniture to the objects.”
Esherick, who lived from 1887 to 1970, is best known for his sculptural wood furniture and furnishings. He is recognized as a leader of the studio furniture movement. He also painted, sculpted, and made prints.
“Esherick saw himself as an artist, not a craftsman, and his concern was with form, not technique,” reads a description on the museum’s website. “He pursued his artistic vision in forms that might turn to furniture or other sculptural furnishings. More importantly, these were but one aspect of his art complemented by the paintings, prints, drawings, poetry, and sculpture he also created.”
Snyder’s talk, titled “Wharton Esherick’s Handcrafted Studio,” is part of West Windsor Arts’ Lunchtime Gallery Series. He plans to discuss Esherick’s life and work, and provide a tour not only of his studio, but of the multiple buildings on the property. The studio was built by hand over a 40-year period beginning in 1926, incorporating Arts and Crafts, Expressionist, and organic designs. Among other buildings on the property are Esherick’s former garage, now the Visitor Center; and his workshop, designed in 1956 in collaboration with architects Louis Kahn and Anne Tyng.
Visitors to the bucolic site often get a feeling that Esherick was a quiet man who kept to himself. “That’s definitely not the case,” Snyder said. “He collaborated closely with people around him who had artisanal skills he might not have had. He was featured at the 1939 World’s Fair, at the Whitney, and other museums in New York. The first exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts was a retrospective of his works. We are lucky enough to have an oral history of him, and he was a fantastic storyteller. He was quite a character and he inspired many people to become artists.”
A traveling show, “The Crafted World of Wharton Esherick,” will open in October at the Brandywine Museum of Art in Chadds Ford, Pa., before moving to Cincinnati, Ohio, and Madison, Wis.
“It’s important to realize that Wharton and his wife were really interested in living differently from people around them,” said Snyder. “They were practicing nudists. They sold and canned vegetables. They ran day care. I think that interest they had in living an intentional life, in progressive ideas, really informs everything.”
To attend the Zoom lecture, visit westwindsorarts.org. Tickets are free for members; $10 for non-members.
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