“Our hyper-technological age seems like the right time for a renewed appreciation of Wharton Esherick’s idiosyncratic, highly crafted, sculptural furniture.”
“Visiting the museum is like entering another world where every nook and cranny, from the buildings themselves to the items they contain, is an artistic journey.”
“Much of his work has an abhorrence for a straight line and a 90-degree angle, reveling in a sensuous bend wherever possible.”
“If your knowledge of outside-the-box furniture design starts and ends with Ikea’s iconic and ubiquitous Poäng armchair — I’m literally sitting in one as I write this — I need to introduce you to Wharton Esherick.”
“Because these practical items were created to be used, their tactile qualities are often overpowering, creating a tantalizing urge to sit, to write, to hold, to touch.”
Recent Press
Art, Work, and Everyday Life: A New Look at the Esherick Studio
While several of Esherick’s works travel with The Crafted World of Wharton Esherick, we are excited to offer visitors a chance to experience the Studio space in a new way with the installation of Art, Work, and Everyday Life: A New Look at the Esherick Studio. With over 70 Esherick works are on the road, we have the unique opportunity to showcase rarely seen objects from our collection and beyond. These new displays highlight both the artworks and the ephemera of Esherick’s daily life — from work tables and easels to handmade ceramic dishes — and reintroduce the Studio as an ever-changing space of creative activity. Learn more about the new Studio setup here!
“If it’s not fun, it’s not worth doing” –Wharton Esherick
The Wharton Esherick Museum celebrates and preserves the legacy of American artist Wharton Esherick, who worked primarily in wood to create furniture, furnishings, utensils, interiors, buildings and more.
A National Historic Landmark for Architecture, his hilltop studio/residence, with more than 300 of his works on exhibition, has been preserved much as it was when the artist lived and worked there.
We invite you to visit the Museum through a guided experience for which reservations are required.
Explore the Museum Digitally-
Check out the Wharton Esherick Museum in our digital guide on Bloomberg Connects, the free arts and culture app.
The digital guide features a tour of the grounds with a variety of insights shared by WEM staff as well as audio clips of Wharton himself. Whether you are on our campus, or exploring from afar, take the digital tour to learn more about Wharton’s life and the structures he built or designed that make this site a National Historic Landmark for Architecture. Additionally, our guide has information on exhibitions, upcoming programs, highlights from the collection, and more.
WEM is delighted to join the hundreds of institutions–museums, galleries, sculpture parks, gardens, and cultural spaces–available to explore on Bloomberg Connects. All that in one free download from the App Store or Google Play.
New Publication: The Crafted World of Wharton Esherick
We are excited to announce a new publication to accompany the new exhibition, The Crafted World of Wharton Esherick. Published by Rizzoli, this 224 page book introduces Esherick’s visionary work to a broader public with essays by scholars Sarah Archer, Colin Fanning, Ann Glasscock, Holly Gore, and Emily Zilber and photographs by renowned architectural photographer Joshua McHugh. This book showcases seven decades of innovative woodwork and sculpture, fully contextualizing iconic works in Esherick’s own space and immersing readers in his creative world while capturing his unparalleled artistic contributions to the realms of furniture, architecture, prints, drawings, and sculpture.
Current Offsite Exhibition
The Crafted World of Wharton Esherick at Brandywine Museum of Art
October 13, 2024 – January 19, 2025
This exhibition explores the interdisciplinary creativity of Wharton Esherick (1887-1970), the famed American artist best known as the father of the Studio Furniture Movement.
The Crafted World brings selections from this rich and rarely loaned collection to a broader public, including many objects never before seen except in Esherick’s home and studio. Detailing the artist’s career from his early woodcut illustrations for books by members of the avant-garde literati to his revolutionary reimagining of furniture forms as organic sculpture, works will be presented in thematic vignettes that invite visitors into Esherick’s story and bring the essence of his creative world into the gallery.
“A complete expression of one man’s intensely personal fusion of fine craftsmanship with the wild flights of the imagination.”
“Fun, neat, creative, colorful, comfortable, smooth, flowing, exciting, cool, twisty, wavy, and extraordinary.”
Call for Entries-
Imprint 2025 High School Printmaking Competition
THEME: Renewal
DEADLINE: March 7, 2025
Imprint, our annual high school student printmaking exhibition, has been a cornerstone program for the Wharton Esherick Museum for a decade. Nearly a century ago, Wharton Esherick found his true calling through printmaking; Imprint encourages young people to explore this art form and make artistic statements through it for generations to come. We currently invite art classes from the Chester, Bucks, Delaware, Montgomery, Berks, Lehigh, and Philadelphia Counties to enter each year.
