MALVERN, PA — A century after Wharton Esherick broke ground on his now-iconic hilltop studio, the Wharton Esherick Museum is opening a new exhibition that traces how local landscape, regional identity, and American ambition converged to shape one of the nation’s most distinctive works of modern design.
Pennsylvania Modern: Regionalism and the Wharton Esherick Studio opens March 1 and runs through June 7 in the museum’s Visitor Center, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of Esherick’s 1926 studio and the nation’s semiquincentennial. Drawn from the museum’s own collections, the exhibition examines how Esherick rooted a modern artistic vision in the cultural and architectural traditions of rural Pennsylvania.
In 1926, Esherick chose a sloping site on Valley Forge Mountain, surrounded by sandstone outcroppings and overgrown farmland, to build a studio that would become the centerpiece of his life’s work. Working with local tradesmen and led by mason Albert Kulp, the artist raised a stone structure without formal drawings, relying instead on regional building knowledge and craftsmanship. Modeled on a Pennsylvania bank barn, the studio blended historic forms with modern sensibilities, using locally sourced sandstone arranged in unconventional rhythmic patterns and industrial windows to flood the workspace with light.
“This exhibition honors both milestones with a reflection on Esherick as he rooted his building in the rich cultural history of Pennsylvania, and the interest in regionalism he shared with his contemporaries,” said Holly Gore, the museum’s director of interpretation and associate curator.
The exhibition situates Esherick’s studio within a broader national conversation that animated American art a century ago. At a time when artists and critics questioned whether American culture could flourish outside the shadow of Europe, regionalists challenged the dominance of New York and argued that authentic American art emerged from local soil. Esherick’s studio, a modern structure grounded in rural Pennsylvania, became a physical expression of that belief.
Over four decades, the studio evolved from a barnlike workspace into a modern home, with major additions in 1940 and 1966. Yet the original 1926 sandstone core endures, reflecting an approach to modernism shaped as much by place as by innovation. Today, the building stands as a National Historic Landmark for Architecture and a lasting symbol of Pennsylvania modernism.
Pennsylvania Modern presents drawings, photographs, and archival materials that document the studio’s origins and Esherick’s engagement with regional history, craftsmanship, and landscape. The exhibition also connects his work to a wider movement that sought a “usable past” for American art, drawing inspiration from early American artifacts and rural traditions.
The Wharton Esherick Museum, located in Malvern, preserves the artist’s home and studio much as it was during his lifetime. Esherick, who worked primarily in wood, is widely regarded as the founder of the Studio Furniture Movement and a central figure in twentieth-century American modern design. His work is held in the permanent collections of major museums nationwide, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Smithsonian Institution’s Renwick Gallery.
Visitors wishing to enter the Esherick Studio must make advance reservations for a guided tour. Details about visiting the museum and related programs, including a March 15 studio talk and collections exploration, are available at https://whartonesherickmuseum.org and https://whartonesherickmuseum.org/programs/.
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