David Esterly's death this past June—at the age of 75, at his home near Utica, New York—was noted in the New York Times, but he remains esteemed only by connoisseurs of fine woodcarving. This is unfathomable, given the scope of his achievements and the genius behind his work.

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The artificial split between “vernacular” and “high art” architecture, and that between the “fine” arts and “artisanal” production, has left modern society with a meager, arid appreciation of many of the most sensual and culturally rich forms of art that gave our ancestors pleasure over the centuries. Moreover, antiques collecting and elite connoisseurship have moved inexorably from the popular arena to the lofty realm of museums and the 1 percent. Indeed, many of David’s patrons were among the elite collectors of art and decorative arts, because they could both afford and appreciate the quality of his work. And, of course, as a figural artist he could never be taken seriously by the increasingly “conceptual” artists and architects who are the darlings of museum curators and critics. 

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The tragedy of Esterly’s passing without notice is that a genius of such obvious cultural importance could be shrugged aside by those we respect as critics and cultural leaders. Have we reached the point where one of the greatest artists of the past century is ignored, while the art market inflates prices for the work of Damien Hurst, Jeff Koons, and other conceptualists? Sadly, neither the art world or the rarified realm of high-art architects and critics will ever acknowledge a mere artisan. Yet of course Koons and Hurst produce crudely made, tawdry pieces that mock the intelligence of patrons who pay for them. Their own artistry is so marginal that many sensible people will never take them seriously. Among architects, craft is so little appreciated that buildings such the Seattle Public Library or San Francisco Federal Building can fall apart a mere decade after construction and remain icons of their historical moment.

It is time that architects and designers, as well as historians of design, acknowledge their complete ignorance of artisanal literacy and their biases against masters of “the trades.” The profession must again ally itself with those who have mastered materials like wood, stone, fibers, metalwork, and a host of other crafting disciplines. If we look around, we will find that wonderful work is being done by artisans, and that including it in our designs is not only smart, but also enriching for us and our users. In architectural conservation/preservation, these material artisans are necessary for the repair of buildings, and indeed many forms of art. But architects denigrate those who merely “repair and restore” architecture as surely as they do the tradespeople who work with them. We must stop denying that we, too, are artisans, and join rather than shun our brethren. 

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