Virtual Lecture: A Nativity for the Eisenhower White House

Mark Sfirri, an artist, professor, author, and curator, will present an illustrated talk via Zoom on the life and art of Hanna Weil Fischer-Binder. In the 1950s, Raymond and Mildred Pitcairn commissioned Fischer-Binder, a multi-talented Bucks County artist, to carve three sets of wooden Nativity figures for the East Room of the Eisenhower White House. The three scenes (the Wise Men gazing at the Star of Bethlehem, the Annunciation to the Shepherds, and the Nativity) were located beside the Christmas tree. Fischer-Binder also made Nativity figures for members of the Pitcairn family. Earlier in her artistic career, from the 1920s until the late 1930s, she was known for her ivory carvings in her native country, Germany. Sfirri will explain Fischer-Binder’s personal history, how she ended up in Bucks County, and how her career eventually led her to carve the wooden Nativity figures she made for the Eisenhower and Pitcairn families.

Mark Sfirri is co-curator of a current exhibition at the James A. Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, PA, "Daring Design: The Impact of Three Women on Wharton Esherick’s Craft." Hanna Weil Fischer-Binder is one of the artists featured in this exhibition.

Free Admission. Reservations are required 24 hours in advance. To receive a Zoom link to the event, visit GlencairnMuseum.org or call 267.502.2600.

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