Lowell Nesbitt American, 1933-1993

Lowell Nesbitt was born in Towson, Maryland, just outside Baltimore. As a teenager, he worked as a night watchman at the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., an experience that inspired him to pursue a career as an artist. He studied at the Tyler School of Art at Temple University and the Royal College of Art in London, where he focused on stained glass and etching. However, Nesbitt later transitioned to painting, initially as an abstract expressionist, and often chose provincial subjects such as clothing, produce, and the architecture of his new home, New York City.

In 1962, encouraged by Robert Indiana, Nesbitt shifted again, this time to a realist style, focusing on botanical subjects like roses, irises, and lilies. He painted these flowers in photorealistic and oversized depictions against stark backgrounds, with canvases reaching heights of up to thirty feet. This approach compelled viewers to reflect on the similarities between the morphology of flowers and the female body. In 1964, he debuted these floral works to great acclaim during an exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C., marking the beginning of his prolific career, which included 80 solo exhibitions. While artists had historically portrayed floral subjects in traditional still lifes, Nesbitt's unique, stylized approach brought a fresh perspective and positioned his work at the forefront of the Pop Art movement, alongside the likes of Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Jack Youngerman.

Throughout his career, alongside the success of his botanical works, Nesbitt continued to explore various subjects through drawing, sculpture, and printmaking. In 1968, NASA appointed him as the official artist for the Apollo 9 and 13 space missions. He was also commissioned by the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Postal Service to create a mural and artwork for a stamp, respectively. Today, his works are part of prestigious collections, including those of the American Embassy Arts Program, Lincoln Center, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Detroit Institute of Arts.