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Lowell Nesbitt
Orchid, gorgeous signed/n silkscreen by renowned 1970s realist artist

1979

About the Item

Lowell Nesbitt Orchid, 1979 Silkscreen on wove paper Pencil signed, dated and numbered 144/175 by Lowell Nesbitt on the front Published by Charles Cardinale Fine Creations, Inc., with blind stamp on the front 25 × 25 inches Unframed This work is pencil signed, dated and numbered 144/175 by Lowell Nesbitt on the front. About Lowell Nesbitt. Lowell Nesbitt, who was born in Baltimore on Oct. 4, 1933, was a graduate of the Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philadelphia and also attended the Royal College of Art in London, where he worked in stained glass & etching. In 1964, the Corcoran Gallery or Art in Washington gave him one of his first museum exhibitions, and by the mid 1970's he had decided to leave the museum a bequest of more than $1 million. But in 1989, he publicly revoked the bequest after the Corcoran canceled a disputed exhibition of photographs by Robert Mapplethorpe, who was an old friend. Mr. Nesbitt named the Phillips Collection as a beneficiary instead. He was frequently grouped with the Photo Realists, but his images were more interpretively distorted, somewhat loosely painted and boldly abbreviated. He had many subjects: studio interiors, articles of clothing, piles of shoes and groupings of fruits and vegetables. He also painted his dog, a Rottweiler named Echo, the Neoclassical facades of SoHo's 19th century cast-iron buildings and several of Manhattan's major bridges. Despite such variety, Lowell Nesbitt was best known for gargantuan images or irises, roses, lilies and other flowers, which he often depicted in close up so that their petals seemed to fill the canvas. Dramatic, implicitly sexual and a little ominous, they earned the artist a popularity with the general public that tended to overshadow his reputation within the art world. In 1980, the United States Postal Service issued four stamps based on Mr. Nesbitt's floral paintings. He also served as the official artist for the space flights of Apollo 9 and Apollo 13.
  • Creator:
    Lowell Nesbitt (1933-1993, American)
  • Creation Year:
    1979
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 25 in (63.5 cm)Width: 25 in (63.5 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    New York, NY
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU1745213453662