The Art of Abbott Fuller Graves

 Abbott Fuller Graves 


Abbott Fuller Graves was an American illustrator and painter who was famous for his paintings of open air garden scenes and floral still life work.




His paintings show the influence of European impressionism by the use of thick, bold brushstrokes, vivid colors, and natural light.

Abbott Fuller Graves was born in Weymouth, Massachusetts on April 15, 1859. He had hopes of becoming an architect and attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but he did not graduate.



In 1884 he went to Paris, Frances to refine his skills as a flower painter. He spent times in Italy working with other artists on floral still life painting.

In 1885 he returned to the United States and took a position teaching art at the Cowles Art School in Boston, MA.






He returned to Paris in 1887, this time to study figure painting at the Academy Julian. He worked closely with instructors Paul Gervalis, Fernand Corman, and Jean-Paul Laurens.




Upon returning to the United States, he bought a house in Kennebunkport, Maine, where he taught classes in oil painting and watercolors. He painted coastal life in New England, as well as floral scenes. 

Abbott Fuller Graves died in
1936 in Kennebunkport.