Lowell Blair Nesbitt Explained

Lowell Nesbitt
Birth Name:Lowell Blair Nesbitt
Birth Date:4 October 1933
Birth Place:Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Death Place:New York, New York
Nationality:American (United States)
Field:Painting, Drawing, Printmaking, Sculpting
Training:Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Royal College of Art, London
Movement:Realism, Photorealsim

Lowell Blair Nesbitt (October 4, 1933 – July 8, 1993) was an American painter, draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor. He served as the official artist for the NASA Apollo 9, and Apollo 13 space missions; in 1976 the United States Navy commissioned him to paint a mural in the administration building on Treasure Island spanning 26 feet x 251 feet, then the largest mural in the United States; and in 1980 the United States Postal Service honored Lowell Nesbitt by issuing four postage stamps depicting his paintings.[1] [2] [3] [4]

Early years

Lowell Blair Nesbitt was born to parents, Frank E. Nesbitt, and Mildred C. Nesbitt (née Carback) in Towson, Maryland. He was raised in an affluent Towson neighborhood, the Stoneleigh Historic District at 708 Stoneleigh Road.[5]

Nesbitt graduated from Towson High School in 1951; and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1955. He also studied stained glass, and printmaking from 1955-1956 on a fellowship at the Royal College of Art in London, England.[6] [7]

Following his academic studies, Nesbitt enlisted in the United States Army from 1956-1958. Upon his return, he lived in Washington D.C. where he worked as a night watchman at The Phillips Collection until 1963 when he relocated permanently to New York City to be a career visual artist.[7]

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 his debut at the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Museum) in Washington, D.C. that Nesbitt received greater recognition. The 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. Nesbitt 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 1980s, titled the “impossible series” was a grouping of surrealistic landscapes paintings and drawings.

To honor Nesbitt's 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. Nesbitt was found dead in his New York studio in 1993 at the age of 59. Police stated he died of natural causes.[8]

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 Edward F. Knowles redesigned. The area measured in excess of 12500square feet. 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 fitting backdrop to the artist's larger-than-life artworks – the largest single painting that Nesbitt is known to have created was more than 30feet long, with many 20feet in length or height. Nesbitt's 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 was featured in articles in the New York Times, the Washington Post and Architectural Digest Magazine in the late 1970s. After 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 to the real estate developer Barry Diller, her husband, and demolished to make space for a new high-rise building.

Robert Mapplethorpe scandal

In June 1989 Nesbitt became involved in the scandal surrounding fellow artist photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. The Corcoran Gallery of Art 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 debut sexually suggestive photographs in Washington, D.C. The hierarchy of the Corcoran and even certain members of United States Congress were horrified when the works were revealed to them, and the museum refused to go ahead with the exhibit.[9] As a longtime friend of Mapplethorpe, Nesbitt revealed that he had a $1.5 million bequest to the museum in his will. However, in public statements, 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 Nesbitt bequeathed the $1.5 million 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.

Museum and government collections

Lowell Nesbitt’s artwork is owned by hundreds of public collections worldwide. Those collections include, American Embassy art program; The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois; David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center, New York, New York; Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland; Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio; Castle Gandolfo, Rome, Collection of the Vatican Museums; Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (transferred to the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.); Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas; Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Michigan; Ulrich Museum, Wichita State University, Kansas; United States Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C.; Federal Reserve Bank, Baltimore, Maryland; Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Virginia; Harvard Art Museums, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas; Goucher College, Baltimore, Maryland; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Canegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; International Monetary Fund, Washington, D.C.; Israel Museum, Jerusalem; John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida; Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, La Jolla, California; Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; Orlando Museum of Art, Florida; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston; Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, New York; Miami-Dade Public Library System, Miami, Florida; Milwaukee Art Museum, Wisconsin; Morris Museum of Art, Morristown, New Jersey; Museum of Modern Art, New York; National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, D.C.; National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.; American Art Museum, The Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; Te Papa, Wellington, New Zealand; New York City Center, New York; Oberlin College, Ohio; Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Tulsa; Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, New York; Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Germany; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania; The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.; Centre national des arts plastiques, Paris, France; Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.; Saginaw Art Museum, Saginaw, Michigan; San Antonio Museum of Art, Texas; SEB Group, Goteborg, Sweden; Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum; Tucson Museum of Art, Arizona; Twelfth Naval District, Treasure Island Museum, San Francisco, CA; United States Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C.; University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland; University of North Texas, Denton, Texas; University of Virginia, Charlottesville; Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia; Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts; and Yale University Art Gallery, Yale University, New Haven, CT.[10]

Solo exhibitions

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

Selected books and catalogues

References and sources

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2019. Lowell Nesbitt: Apollo,1969.
  2. Web site: Biographical Note A Finding Aid to the Lowell Nesbitt papers, circa 1903-1993, bulk 1950-1993. 2022-01-09. www.aaa.si.edu. en.
  3. Book: All Hands, Issues 708-719. Bureau of Naval Personnel. January 1976. 27. English.
  4. Web site: March 30, 2019. Treasure Island Museum Mural.
  5. News: January 24, 1974. Nesbitt, Mildred C. (nee Carback). C12. The Baltimore Sun.
  6. Web site: Towson High School Alumni Association. 2022-01-16. www.towsonhighalumni.org.
  7. Web site: Lowell Nesbitt. The Fralin Museum of Art, University of Virginia.
  8. 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.
  9. Book: Public Culture: Diversity, Democracy, and Community in the United States . University of Pennsylvania Press . Apr 17, 2012 . 2013-06-05 . Shaffer, Marguerite S. . 293. 978-0812206845 .
  10. Book: Lowell Nesbitt, 1933-1993: paintings, drawings, and prints in the collection of the Bayly Art Museum, University of Virginia. University of Virginia. 1995.

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