(1926 - 2015)

Outdoor artist Robert Abbett was born in Hammond, Indiana, educated in the Midwest at Purdue and Missouri Universities; and worked in illustrative art in Chicago and New York until moving to Bridgewater, CT in 1970, at which time he moved his attention to gallery art. The Abbett's now split their time between a studio home in Scottsdale, AZ and their Connecticut estate, Oakdale.

Specializing in outdoor sports and activities - hunting dogs, fly fishing, horses and wildlife and an occasional portrait - his paintings have received acclaim across this country and abroad. Abbett's work is represented in the permanent collections of the Genesee Country Museum Gallery of Wildlife Art, Mumford, NY, the Dog Museum of America, St. Louis, MO and the National Bird Dog Museum, Grand Junction, TN. His painting of actor Jimmy Stewart shown in western gear hangs in the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.

His credentials are to the point: memberships in The Society of Animal Artists and Who's Who in American Art. Bob is a featured columnist and writes "FAVORITE COVERS" for The Pointing Dog Journal. Books on Bob's work and history include ABBETT by Michael McIntosh (out of print), a large size art book published in 1989, WINGS FROM COVER - THE UPLAND IMAGES OF ROBERT K. ABBETT AND ED GRAY, published by Willow Creek Press, and the current book, A SEASON FOR PAINTING, authored by him and published by Collector's Covey in Dallas.

Abbett's accomplishments include the design of many popular conservation stamp/print programs including those for The National Cutting Horse Association, The Sporting Dog Heritage, The Bird Dog Foundation, Ducks Unlimited, Trout Unlimited, The National Wild Turkey Federation, and the International Quail Foundation. His painting, "Navajo Buddies", showing a horse and sheep dog, was published as promotional prints and posters for the Parada del Sol in Scottsdale, Arizona. Articles on his work have appeared in dozens of magazines such as Sports Afield (he was named one of the top outdoor artists of America in their 100th Anniversary Issue), Gray's Sporting Journal, Wildlife Art and Sporting Classics, and he was the featured cover story artist in the November '96 issue of the AKC Gazette.

A Robert Abbett commissioned dog portrait has become the industry standard, and Bob's busy schedule takes him to some of the world's most fabulous estates, kennels, game preserves and fishing streams. Bob and his wife, Marilyn, travel widely in the pursuit of subject material, including the west where his work is shown in galleries in Dallas, Scottsdale and Jackson, Wyoming.