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February 22 through June 1, 2008 Bucks County artist Robert C. Whitley (b. 1924) is a master woodworker of national reputation who is grounded in the ancient traditions of craftsmanship, originality, and functionality. As he says, "A truly excellent design-one that is pleasing to the eye, graceful in line and serves a practical function- this will survive the trends and fads of the times and will retain its classic beauty forever."
Equally well versed in contemporary and antique furniture designs, Whitley is a third generation craftsman who inherited from his father and grandfather his skill at cabinetry, his knowledge of woods and joinery, and a family formula for oil finishing that is a trademark of his art. Whitley has a penchant for drawing the forms and rhythms of the natural world, and this fascination with nature has inspired the graceful curves in his elegant tables and chairs. This retrospective exhibition was organized by the Michener Art Museum, and featured prime examples of both his contemporary furniture designs and historic reproductions. Look for "Robert Whitley: Creating the Throne Bench," an edition of Art Beat throughout March on CBTV. Images, top to bottom: Robert Whitley (b. 1924), Forest Console, 1999, Walnut. Collection of Mr. Jack I. Udell... Robert Whitley (b. 1924), Library Ladder, 1980, Wild Cherry. Collection of Mr. Jack I. Udell.
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Whitley's commissions
include a chess set presented by President
Richard Nixon to the Soviet Union (now in the
collection of the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia),
a re-creation of President John F. Kennedy's Oval
Office desk for the Kennedy Memorial Library in
Boston, and the restoration of several important
pieces at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where
he has served as master conservator. One of his
classic designs, the Throne Bench, greets visitors
to the Michener in Doylestown, in the museum's
entrance lobby.
