Following World War II, many American designers rejected the factory system of mass-producing functional objects in favor of individual artisans who conceived of and executed their own original designs. Some embraced historic craft methods, while others experimented with new methods and materials. The Studio Arts Movement took shape in clay, metal, fiber, glass, and wood.

Studio art designs reflect the personal visions of their makers and take many directions. Wharton Esherick and George Nakashima on the East Coast and Sam Maloof and Arthur Espenet Carpenter on the West Coast were the major figures among the first generation of American hand-crafted furniture makers. In Ned Cooke’s 1989 book and catalogue for a show at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, New American Furniture: Second Generation Studio Furnituremakers, he referred to the four of them as the First Generation of Studio Furniture makers. This phrase reified the existence of a movement that began before the Boston show and helped to create a framework within which to think about American Studio Furniture. This lecture by Dr. Robert Aibel, a leading expert on the Studio Craft Movement, will explore the careers and work of Esherick and Nakashima in particular.