Abbott Fuller Graves Biography | Oil Painting Reproductions

Abbott Fuller Graves specialized in garden and flower paintings inspired by the Impressionist style of thick brushstrokes, bright colors in natural outdoor light, he learned overseas.

Hoping to become an architect, Abbott Fuller Graves went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) but he did not graduate. So instead, Graves went to Paris and Italy in 1884 to refine his skills as a still life flower painter. He returned to Boston the following year and became a teacher of flower painting at the Cowles Art School, his friend Childe Hassam was also an instructor on the faculty and the two painters influenced one another style. In 1887, Graves again returned to Paris to study figure painting at the Academie Julien.

Abbott Fuller Graves returned in 1890 and lived in the small seaside town of Kennebunkport, Maine, where he taught private painting classes in oil and watercolor. He kept on going there in later years, painting genre scenes featuring farmers, lobster fishermen, firemen, and old sea captains. Many of his paintings of small-town America were reproduced on calendars and postcards.

In 1891, he opened his art school in Boston but in 1895 when he bought a house in Maine, the school moved to Kennebunk. From 1902 to 1905, Graves was employed in Paris as a commercial illustrator for magazines. After 1922, Graves spent his winters in New York City, where he belonged to the National Academy of Design, the National Arts Club, the Salmagundi Club, and Allied Artists of America.

Art Movement: Impressionism.
Artists Influencing Abbott Fuller Graves: Childe Hassam.
He Traveled To France, Italy.
Artist's Biography compiled by Albert L. Mansour at The World's Artist, with text adapted from Wikipedia.