Wharton Esherick
Marjorie Content Dressing Table, 1932
Padouk, mirror
After the death of Marjorie Content’s second husband, Michael Carr, she returned to New York City, and commissioned Wharton to create a bedroom suite which included the dressing table and bed (pictured here). They remain one of his finest creations. He wrote to Theodore Dreiser, “It is one of the biggest & most complete things I have done…”
Exhibitions – Daring Design: The Impact of Three Women on Wharton Esherick’s Craft, on view at the Michener Art Museum from September 10, 2021 – February 6, 2022
Documentation – Historical images of the dressing table in the home of Marjorie Content and a letter from Marjorie Content to Wharton Esherick discusses her ideas for the bedroom, including a drawing of the dressing table. The letter is part of the WEM permanent collection.
Wharton Esherick (1887 – 1970) was an internationally significant figure in the landscape of art history and American modern design. As a sculptor, Esherick worked primarily in wood and extended his unique forms to furniture, furnishings, interiors, buildings, and more. A Philadelphia-area modernist sculptor deeply influenced by the Arts & Crafts movement, Wharton Esherick designed and built furniture distinctive for its asymmetric, prismatic forms. His goal was to design furniture that functioned as sculpture, and sculpture that functioned as furniture.
| Dimensions | 44 × 17 × 82.75 in |
|---|---|
| Artist | |
| Date | 1932 |
| Style |
