Wharton Esherick 1887–1970
Wharton Esherick was an American artist and craftsman whose influence on craft furniture design and architectural forms spanned decades. Esherick pioneered the Postwar American Studio Craft movement applying a technique that bridged the gap between expressionist art and craft. His furniture was non-traditional: both sculptural and functional while focused on organic, asymmetric forms. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Esherick studied wood and metal working at Central Manual Training High School and later drawing and printmaking at the Pennsylvania Museum School of the Industrial Arts. In 1908 he received a painting scholarship to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, but did not complete the program, instead he pursued commercial art and book illustration while continuing to paint on the side.
In the early 1920s, he moved to rural Paoli, Pennsylvania in order to live a lifestyle more immersed in nature. At this time his woodworking began to take form combining modern art with hand wood shaping creating frames for his paintings which developed into carved woodcuts. By 1926 his sculpture was exhibited at the Whitney Museum in New York, and he began to hand-build a studio on his land, which in 1993 was named a National Historic Landmark and opened to the public as the Wharton Esherick Museum.
Auction Results Wharton Esherick
Wharton Esherick
three works from Walt Whitman's Song of the Broad Axe
estimate: $1,000–1,500
Wharton Esherick
coffee table
estimate: $18,000–22,000
result: $18,750
Wharton Esherick
breakfast table
estimate: $24,000–28,000
result: $35,000
Wharton Esherick
Captain's chairs, set of two
estimate: $7,500–10,000
result: $20,000
Wharton Esherick
stool
estimate: $4,000–6,000
result: $6,875
Wharton Esherick
Biomorphic coffee table
estimate: $20,000–30,000
result: $18,750
Wharton Esherick
The Race
estimate: $15,000–20,000
result: $15,000
Wharton Esherick
Hammer Handle Chair
estimate: $6,000–9,000
result: $6,250
Wharton Esherick
Three-panel room divider
estimate: $15,000–20,000
Wharton Esherick
Rare lectern
estimate: $20,000–30,000
result: $21,250
Wharton Esherick
September Corn
estimate: $1,000–1,500
result: $1,500
Wharton Esherick
Hammer Handle chair
estimate: $6,000–8,000
result: $8,750
Wharton Esherick
The Great City; The Headsman (from Walt Whitman's Song of the Broad Axe)
estimate: $500–700
result: $625