Overview
Abbott Fuller Graves was a renowned specialist in decorative plein-air garden painting, floral still-lifes and sun-dappled, flower-framed doorways of fine, Old New England Federal mansions and small cottages. His use of thick impasto brushstrokes, bright colors and natural light, most evident in his garden paintings, reflects the influence of European Impressionism.
Born in Weymouth, Massachusetts in 1859, Graves studied both in New England and overseas. He attended the School of Design at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and in 1884 went to Paris and Italy. In Europe, Graves shared a flat with Edmund C. Tarbell. Tarbell, remembered today as one of the most important painters of the Boston School, became a life-long friend.