David Ebner: Five Decades of Original Studio Furniture Handcrafted on Long Island
On View:
September 26 - October 25, 2025
Location:
The Nathaniel Rogers House, 2539 Mtk Hwy, Bridgehampton
The Bridgehampton Museum is honored to present a retrospective exhibition of works by Local artist and master craftsman, David Ebner. David Ebner: Five Decades of Original Studio Furniture Handcrafted on Long Island, opens on September 26, 2025 and runs through October 25, 2025 at the Nathaniel Rogers House. This exhibition covers the pivotal moments in Mr. Ebner’s storied career. With the pursuit of an elegant simplicity in mind, David N. Ebner has been creating furniture for five decades. He approaches his designs as a craftsman dedicated to the medium of wood. Mr. Ebner finds inspiration in the local landscape, as well as in the rich history of his chosen medium. He continually searches out new perspectives through which to explore the traditional forms of furniture design. Mr. Ebner feels that he is creating "the antiques of tomorrow".
David N. Ebner is an artist and master craftsman who works in four modes: classical impressions of furniture, turned objects, sculptural furniture and furniture. "I approach my art intuitively as well as intellectually, drawing inspiration wherever I find it. I've explored a variety of directions and themes over the years, but each piece is treated as an art object with concern for my material and honesty to its inherent qualities. For me, one's creative ability is demonstrated in the diversity of the pieces and what one learns from change".
Educated at the prestigious School for American Craftsmen at Rochester Institute of Technology, New York. It was there under the tutelage of artist Wendell Castle, that he realized that there could be "an artistic approach" to woodworking. Upon graduation from RIT, Mr. Ebner sought advanced studies in London, at London School of Furniture Design. After a two-year stint in the armed forces, Mr. Ebner knew he wanted to pursue life as a full-time studio craftsman. Establishing a studio on the south shore of Long Island in 1973.
Five Decades Later, David Ebner is considered by curators and collectors alike as an integral part of the "studio craft" furniture movement. Pivotal to his career as one of the foremost makers of American contemporary furniture, was Mr. Ebner's outstanding inclusion in "Exploration II: The New Furniture" at American Crafts Museum (May 9-August 4, 1991). The curator of the exhibition, John Perreault stated, “Through the use of stripped-down classic forms, David Ebner has updated and extended the mode of furniture solidified by Wharton Esherick, George Nakashima, Sam Maloof and the early Wendell Castle".
The Bridgehampton Museum invites you to take the journey through the career of a remarkable artist and true master of his craft in David Ebner: Five Decades of Original Studio Furniture Handcrafted on Long Island. Funding for this exhibition has been generously provided by the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation.
Selected Exhibitions: National Collection of Fine Art, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C; Exploration II, The New Furniture, American Crafts Museum, New York, NY; "Jacobson Collection", Cooper-Hewitt Museum, New York, NY; "Bed and Board", Decordova Museum, Lincoln, Mass; Guild Hall Museum, East Hampton, NY; "A Decade of Crafts: Recent Acquisitions", American Crafts Museum, New York, NY; Gallery Fair, Mendocino, CA; Pritam & Eames, East Hampton, NY; "The Chair", The Worcester Center for Crafts, Art Basel, Switzerland: Sofa, NY, Chicago, Santa Fe.
Selected Collections: National Collection of Fine Art, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC; American Craft Museum, New York, NY; High Museum, Atlanta, Georgia; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Mass; Yale University Gallery; The Art Institute of Chicago; Baylyar Art Museum, University of Virginia; FORBES Magazine Collection, NYC; Gerald D. Hines, Dallas, Texas; Horace Havemeyer III, NYC; Ronald Abramson, Washington D.C; Malcom Morley, Brookhaven, New York; William and Elaine de Kooning, East Hampton, NY; Tony Delorenzo, NYC; Lord & Lady de Rothschild, London, England. Isabella Rossellini, Bellport NY. Glenn Close, NYC.
Selected Publications: The New York Times, American Craft, Fine Woodworking, House and Garden, Newsday, Arts and Crafts International, Garden Magazine, Art & Antiques.
Press about this exhibition
