Lowell Blair Nesbitt’s large-scale flower paintings emerged in the 1960s as bold acts of perception, transforming petals, stamens, and leaves into architectural forms that filled entire canvases with meticulous detail. Working primarily in acrylic and occasionally airbrush, Nesbitt magnified irises, lilies, and magnolias to monumental proportions, creating what he called “portraits” of botanical subjects that revealed hidden geometries and unexpected intimacies. Inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe’s floral close-ups, he was a significant figure in American Precisionism and Photo-Realism of the 1970s. Nesbitt once explained, “I paint flowers the same size as I paint bridges,” suggesting his interest lay not in traditional still life but structure, scale, and intricate subjects of any size. These drawings invite you to reconsider the familiar—to see how a single blossom contains worlds of form, shadow, and light, and to discover how Nesbitt’s floral works are testaments to the power of close observation.

1978
Serigraph, 3/65 A.P.
38" h x 33" w

Artwork donated by Greg G. Juarez
79 1163