Lowell Blair Nesbitt

Lowell Nesbitt
Birth name Lowell Blair Nesbitt
Born October 4, 1933(1933-10-04)
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Died July 8, 1993(1993-07-08) (aged 59)
New York, New York
Nationality American (United States)
Field Painting, Drawing, Printmaking, Sculpting
Training Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Royal Academy of Arts, London

Lowell Blair Nesbitt (October 4, 1933 - July 8, 1993) was a painter, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor.

Contents

Early years

Lowell Nesbitt was a graduate of the Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and also attended the Royal Academy of Arts in London, England where he created a number of works in the mediums of stained glass and etching.

Career

In 1958 the Baltimore Museum of Art hosted the first solo museum exhibit that Nesbitt was to have in his lengthy career but it was in 1964 with Nesbitt's debut at the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Museum) in Washington D.C. that the art world truly took notice of his bold new style with this first public exhibition of the botanical series of paintings, drawings and prints which was to be the series of works that was to put Lowell Nesbitt on the map of current art world fascinations. The vast array of botanical works most likely would not have been created had it had not been for the beckoning of fellow artist, Robert Indiana who, in 1962 after viewing some of Lowell Nesbitt's abstract paintings drawings and prints suggested that he attempt to make a conversion from the abstraction which Nesbitt’s career had been focused on pre-1962, to the style of realism.

Nesbitt was often classified as a Photorealist artist, though, he fought inclusion with this group of artists throughout his career. Lowell Nesbitt quickly established himself as an artist who could employ both diversity of technique and subject matter while creating paintings, drawings and prints using studio interiors, articles of clothing, piles of shoes, x-ray figures (Nesbitt was the first highly recognized artist to use this subject matter since the artists of the New Zealand region unknowingly painted "x-ray style" figures at the early portion of the last millennium), caverns, ruins, landscapes, flowers, groupings of fruits and vegetables, and electronic components (he is credited for being the first artist to use computer parts as subject matter for his artwork). He also used his pet dogs in addition to birds, reptiles, various mammals and the Neoclassical facades of SoHo's 19th century cast-iron buildings and several of Manhattan's major bridges, in addition to a number of series in which he incorporated numerous Victorian staircases, and other interior scenes as subject matter for his artwork. His last series in the 1980‘s, titled the “impossible series” was a grouping of surrealistic landscapes paintings and drawings.

To honor Lowell Nesbitt's monumental contributions to the art world, in 1980, the United States Postal Service issued four stamps based on his floral paintings. He also served as the official artist for the NASA space flights of Apollo 9 and Apollo 13. Lowell Nesbitt was found dead in his New York studio in 1993 at the age of 59. Police stated he died of natural causes.[1]

Studio and mansion

In 1976, Nesbitt had moved from his studio, an already large location on West 14th Street (which he shared with artist Ian Hornak in the middle portion of the 1960s) in New York, to 389 West 12th, Street, New York. Formerly the site of a police stable that he purchased and renovated the area measured in excess of 12,500 square feet (1,160 m2). This studio and living space, included an indoor swimming pool, a four-story atrium and a rooftop entertainment area; Nesbitt labelled the facility "The Old Stable." Nesbitt hired two full-time staff members, a caretaker for his plants and a chef. This provided a befitting backdrop to the artist's larger-than-life artworks – the largest single painting that Nesbitt is known to have created was more than 30 feet (9.1 m) long, with many 20 feet (6.1 m) in length or height. The Lowell Nesbitt studio became a popular gathering place for major art world figures, celebrities and dignitaries including Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Indiana, Jasper Johns, Robert Motherwell, Larry Rivers and James Rosenquist. This monumental space that Nesbitt created resulted in feature articles about the facility in the New York Times, the Washington Post and Architectural Digest Magazine in the late 1970s. After Lowell Nesbitt’s death the "Old Stable" was purchased by fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg who used it for her primary design studio and inner-city living area. She continued to use the structure until the early 2000s when it was sold and demolished to make space for a new high-rise building.

Robert Mapplethorpe scandal

In June 1989 Lowell Nesbitt became involved with the scandal involving fellow artist photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. The Corcoran Gallery of Art(Museum) in Washington D.C. had agreed to host a solo exhibit of Mapplethorpe's works without stipulating what type of subject matter would be used. Mapplethorpe decided to make his famed debut of "sexually suggestive" photographs in Washington D.C.; a new series that he had explored shortly before his death. The hierarchy of the Corcoran and even certain members of United States Congress were horrified when the works were revealed to them, thus the museum refused to go ahead with the exhibit. It was at this time that Nesbitt stepped forward. As a long time friend of Mapplethorpe's he revealed that he had a 1,500,000.00 USD bequest to the museum in his will. However, in public statements causing a press sensation regarding the issue, Nesbitt promised that if the museum refused to host the exhibition of the controversial images created by Mapplethorpe he would revoke his bequest. The Corcoran refused and Lowell Nesbitt bequeathed the 1,500,000.00 USD to the Phillips Collection which he cited as an early inspiration to his career when he had worked there as a young man in the position of a night watchman.

Works in Museum and Government Collections

The following is a partial listing of bodies owning works by Lowell Nesbitt—

Solo exhibitions

His solo exhibitions were held in the following galleries (partial listing)—

Posthumous exhibitions

Selected books and catalogues

References and sources

  1. ^ Smith, Roberta. "Lowell Nesbitt, a Realist Painter Of Flowers, Is Found Dead at 59", The New York Times, Obituaries, 10 July 1993. Retrieved on 2010-11-21.