Join us on Monday, October 20th at 10:30AM for an exclusive program at the Wharton Esherick Museum focused on the story of American printmaking during the 1920s and 1930s as told through WEM’s special collections and archives. These decades were a pivotal time for the printmaking practice Wharton Esherick took up during his transition from painter to wood sculptor. The artist’s graphic prints were exhibited and admired in galleries such as the Whitney Studio Club, the Philadelphia Print Club, as well as the Weyhe Gallery where the artist maintained a close friendship with the manager Carl Zigrosser, who would later become the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA)’s first curator of prints and drawings. Explore the printmaking scene Esherick and his contemporaries were a part of through a selection of prints, woodblocks and engravings, books from Esherick’s shelves, archival materials, ephemera such as print gallery catalogs, and other highlights from our collection. 

This program follows up on a recent collaboration between WEM and the PMA around the recent exhibition Wanda Gág: Art for Life’s Sake, where printmaking networks of the period were explored through the PMA’s print collection. The story continues at WEM where we’ll take a look at materials from the Museum’s collection alongside curators Emily Zilber and Holly Gore, as well as collections manager Ethan Snyder. 

The program begins at 10:30 AM with an abbreviated tour of Wharton Esherick’s 1926 Studio before participants are invited into the 1956 Workshop designed by Louis Kahn and Anne Tyng to look at materials rarely on view from WEM’s collection and talk with staff.

Ticket Details:

$40 per person

$30 for WEM members – Join or renew today to purchase your tickets at this special price!

Monday, October 20, 2025
10:30AM – 12:30PM