G is for Artist Abbott Graves

Abbott Fuller Graves

(1859-1936)

Abbott Fuller Graves was internationally renowned as a painter of flowers in their natural setting. His use of thick, impasto brushstrokes, bright colors and natural light—most evident in his later garden paintings—shows the influence of European impressionism. For residents of Kennebunk and Kennebunkport, it is his earlier work in genre painting that makes him especially important, as these paintings preserve the people and landscape of this community from the 1890s to the mid 1920s.

Born in Weymouth, Massachusetts in 1859, Graves studied both in New England and abroad. He attended, but did not graduate from, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Although already considered to be a master painter of floral still-lifes in Boston, Graves traveled to Paris, then to Italy in 1884 to continue studying still-life painting from the masters. While in Europe, he roomed with Bostonian Edmund C. Tarbell, who not only became a close friend but is revered today as one of the leading figures of the American Impressionist Movement.

After returning to Boston in 1885, Graves became an instructor at the Cowles Art School. Also teaching there was his close friend and colleague, Childe Hassam. The two painters undoubtedly influenced one another. In 1887, Graves returned to Paris to study figure paintings at the Academie Julien.

After 1891, the majority of Graves works explored themes of gardens and floral landscapes. The bright sunlight and bold use of color and paint, as well as the subject matter of the garden paintings, reflect the influence of European impressionism on Graves’s work. Many of his oils, pastels and watercolors included female figures. Some portray exotic gardens of Spain and South America.

By 1895, it is in Kennebunkport where Graves, his wife, and two children came to live. He resided in at least three houses, and owned, renovated, or built a dozen more. His summers were spent painting and serving his community as a dedicated volunteer for a number of local organizations including the volunteer firemen, the church, the Kennebunk River Club, and the Village Improvement Society which he helped found.

Throughout his career, Graves continued his travels between New England and Paris. In 1891, he opened his own art school in Boston. The school moved to Kennebunk and closed in 1902. From 1902 to 1905, Graves was employed as a commercial illustrator for magazines in Paris.

In 1936, while on holiday in Florida, Abbott Graves suffered a heart attack that weakened him severely. He returned to Kennebunkport where he died in his home on July 17, 1936. At the time of his death, Graves had achieved wide acclaim as a specialist in garden painting, both in New England and Paris.

Painting by Abbott Fuller Graves

Apple Blossoms, Abbott Fuller Graves (1859-1936), c. 1920, oil on board, 14” x 13”. Brick Store Museum Collection. Museum purchase, Gift of Carolyn R. Gouldner in memory of her mother, Florence Shepard Richardson. 79.4

The painting is signed by the artist in the lower left corner. The locale of this scene can only be assumed but is likely a view of the Kennebunkport side of the Kennebunk River, looking south from what is now the Cape Arundel Golf Course.