Lowell
Nesbitt was born in Baltimore in 1933 and graduated from Towson High School in
1951. He studied at the Tyler School of Art of Temple University in
Philadelphia, graduating in 1955 with a BFA degree, and attended the Royal
College of Art in London, 1955-56. His college studies were in stained glass and
printmaking. During this period he was also said to have worked as an assistant
set designer at the Ogunquit Playhouse in Maine, 1953-54. After school, he
served in the US Army about 1956-58, and worked as assistant director for closed
circuit television at the Walter Reed Medical Center about 1957-60. It was
probably around this time that Nesbitt worked as night watchman at the Phillips
Collection in Washington DC (c. 1959-63?), a major inspiration in his decision
to paint.
He
received his first exhibition at the Baltimore Museum of Art in 1958, and was
subsequently shown there for many years. By 1963, he had moved to New York and
soon he moved to photo-realism in his painting, and started painting the first
of hundreds of close-up large scale portrayals of flowers, for which he received
his most enduring renown. Another milestone was a major museum solo show at the
Corcoran Gallery of Art in DC in 1964 (again in 1973). Many shows followed in
galleries and museums in New York, around the US, and in Europe. He came to be
represented by a number of New York's most famous (and infamous) galleries. In
the later 1960s and early 1970s, Nesbitt also taught at Towson State and Morgan
State Colleges in Maryland, and the School of Visual Arts in New York. During
the 1960s, he used x-rays and early computers as inspiration for his paintings.
Besides flowers, other subjects of his work included art studio interiors, piles
of shoes, clothing, his dog, groupings of fruits and vegetables, Manhattan's
bridges, Soho's building façades, and of course male nudes.
By
1970, he was one of America's best known artists. In 1969, NASA named him the
official artist of Apollo 9 and later on for Apollo 13. In 1976, he was
commissioned to do a print on the history of flight for the opening of the
National Air and Space Museum, and in 1980 the US Postal Service issued four
postage stamps based on his floral paintings. Nesbitt continued to create and
exhibit his work extensively. Such was his success that he was able to move into
a large new studio and living space that was formerly the police stables. His
success was also financial which led to some controversy later. In 1989 a
retrospective exhibition of the work of Robert Mapplethorpe (several months
after his death) was abruptly cancelled at the Corcoran. Nesbitt's substantial
planned bequest to the museum was withdrawn. Mapplethorpe had been a very close
friend of Nesbitt's [indeed some consider them similar in their art and personal
lives]. His bequest went to the Phillips Collection instead.
Nesbitt's
works can be found in many major museum and corporate collections - including
the Museum of Modern Art, Baltimore Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art,
Art Institute of Chicago, Detroit Institute of Art, Cleveland Museum, Milwaukee
Art Center, Corcoran Gallery, National Gallery, NASA, Library of Congress,
Bibliotheque Nationale (Paris), National Gallery of New Zealand, MIT, High
Museum, Hirshhorn Museum, and many more. Lowell Nesbitt died suddenly at the age
of 59 in 1983 in New York, of natural causes.
[note:
the above information was taken from a number of different published and online
sources -
we do not guarantee total accuracy - dates, work history, etc]
Lowell
Nesbitt was born in Baltimore in 1933 and graduated from Towson High School in
1951. He studied at the Tyler School of Art of Temple University in
Philadelphia, graduating in 1955 with a BFA degree, and attended the Royal
College of Art in London, 1955-56. His college studies were in stained glass and
printmaking. During this period he was also said to have worked as an assistant
set designer at the Ogunquit Playhouse in Maine, 1953-54. After school, he
served in the US Army about 1956-58, and worked as assistant director for closed
circuit television at the Walter Reed Medical Center about 1957-60. It was
probably around this time that Nesbitt worked as night watchman at the Phillips
Collection in Washington DC (c. 1959-63?), a major inspiration in his decision
to paint.
He
received his first exhibition at the Baltimore Museum of Art in 1958, and was
subsequently shown there for many years. By 1963, he had moved to New York and
soon he moved to photo-realism in his painting, and started painting the first
of hundreds of close-up large scale portrayals of flowers, for which he received
his most enduring renown. Another milestone was a major museum solo show at the
Corcoran Gallery of Art in DC in 1964 (again in 1973). Many shows followed in
galleries and museums in New York, around the US, and in Europe. He came to be
represented by a number of New York's most famous (and infamous) galleries. In
the later 1960s and early 1970s, Nesbitt also taught at Towson State and Morgan
State Colleges in Maryland, and the School of Visual Arts in New York. During
the 1960s, he used x-rays and early computers as inspiration for his paintings.
Besides flowers, other subjects of his work included art studio interiors, piles
of shoes, clothing, his dog, groupings of fruits and vegetables, Manhattan's
bridges, Soho's building façades, and of course male nudes.
By
1970, he was one of America's best known artists. In 1969, NASA named him the
official artist of Apollo 9 and later on for Apollo 13. In 1976, he was
commissioned to do a print on the history of flight for the opening of the
National Air and Space Museum, and in 1980 the US Postal Service issued four
postage stamps based on his floral paintings. Nesbitt continued to create and
exhibit his work extensively. Such was his success that he was able to move into
a large new studio and living space that was formerly the police stables. His
success was also financial which led to some controversy later. In 1989 a
retrospective exhibition of the work of Robert Mapplethorpe (several months
after his death) was abruptly cancelled at the Corcoran. Nesbitt's substantial
planned bequest to the museum was withdrawn. Mapplethorpe had been a very close
friend of Nesbitt's [indeed some consider them similar in their art and personal
lives]. His bequest went to the Phillips Collection instead.
Nesbitt's
works can be found in many major museum and corporate collections - including
the Museum of Modern Art, Baltimore Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art,
Art Institute of Chicago, Detroit Institute of Art, Cleveland Museum, Milwaukee
Art Center, Corcoran Gallery, National Gallery, NASA, Library of Congress,
Bibliotheque Nationale (Paris), National Gallery of New Zealand, MIT, High
Museum, Hirshhorn Museum, and many more. Lowell Nesbitt died suddenly at the age
of 59 in 1983 in New York, of natural causes.