Sullivan Goss
AN AMERICAN GALLERY
Celebrating 27 Years of 19th, 20th and 21st Century American Art
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MEREDITH BROOKS ABBOTT

b. 1938

Contemporary American Impressionist

By Gallery Historians

Meredith Brooks Abbott studied under painters Douglass Parshall, Robert Meryman and Clarence Hinkle. Her paintings carry on the Early California Plein Air tradition while also conveying her own take on natural light in the Southern California landscape. Abbott prefers to paint outdoors allowing for the untainted qualities of her subject to be captured in quick, expressive brushstrokes. She is an advocate of environmental conservation and a founding member of the OAK group.




Table Of Contents

I. Biography

Born in California, Meredith Brooks Abbott is a longtime resident of Santa Barbara. She decided to pursue a career as an artist at a young age and spent her first year of college at Scripps College in Claremont, CA. When her father fell ill, she returned to Santa Barbara to care after him.

During these years, she studied under local artist Douglass Parshall (1899-1990). Through Parshall, she met and studied under Richard S. Meryman (1882-1963) and noted California Impressionist Clarence Hinkle (1880-1960). Hinkle maintained a studio on the Riviera modeled after the studio of French Impressionist Claude Monet. Abbott fondly remembers visiting Hinkle and painting alongside him at his home: “It was a beautiful studio—very pristine and tidy, and I painted while standing on a tarp that covered the floor. Opera music was always playing and Mrs. Hinkle would come down to serve us coffee. It was a very lovely situation” (Sloan 58).

She eventually returned to school and earned her degree from the Art Center School in Los Angeles. In 1962, she moved to New York City where she worked as an illustrator in the advertising field and took night classes at the Arts Students League. She would often spend her weekends traveling to visit Meryman’s studio in Dublin, New Hampshire. There, she assisted the artist in completing portrait commissions. In 1970, she moved to San Francisco. There, she worked as an illustrator and began to exhibit her paintings in galleries. She frequently made trips to the pastoral Marin County where she enjoyed gathering inspiration from painting en plein air. While in San Francisco, she reunited with her childhood friend Duncan Abbott and the two were married. In 1974, they moved back south and settled on Duncan’s avocado and lemon ranch in Carpinteria.

With more than 50 years of experience in her career as an artist, Meredith continues to create beautiful impressionistic still lifes, landscapes and portraits. She is a founding member of the OAK Group and holds memberships in the Santa Barbara Art Association and the California Art Club.

II. SGTV Video

"Meredith Brooks Abbott, Contemporary Impressionist"
Written and Narrated by Susan Bush
Produced by Nathan Vonk

In the fall of 2009, Sullivan Goss announced its representation of the artist.

To watch this video click on the image to the left.

III. An Analysis of the Artist's Work

(This section is under construction.)

IV. Education

  • Art Center School, Los Angeles
  • Art Students League, New York
  • Clarence Hinkle, Santa Barbara, CA
  • Douglass Parshall, Santa Barbara, CA
  • Richard S. Meryman, Dublin, NH
  • Scripps College, Claremont, CA
    		•

    V. SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

  • 1972-1974 Village Frame and Gallery, Fairfax and Ross, CA
  • 1974-1984 Gallery de Silva, Santa Barbara, CA
  • 1985-1995 Arlington Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
  • 1995-1997 Easton Gallery
  • 1995 “Art Walk,” Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, CA
  • 1996 Westmont College, Montecito, CA
  • 1997 “Nature Preserved,” Heritage Gallery, San Francisco
  • 1996-2008 Maureen Murphy Fine Arts, Montecito, CA
  • 2009 A Winter Quartet, Sullivan Goss - An American Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA

    • VI. Selected Collections

  • Bank of America, Ventura, CA
  • Cottage Hospital, Santa Barbara, CA
  • Leisure Technology, Lakewood, NJ
  • Monterey Hotel, Monterey, CA
  • Santa Cruz Island Foundation, Santa Barbara, CA
  • Paul Bagley, New York and Santa Barbara, CA
  • Ernest A. Bryant III, Santa Barbara, CA
  • Mary and Barnaby Conrad, Carpinteria, CA
  • Stanford and Ginnie Eschner, Bakersfield, CA
  • Jon T. Ledlie, M. D., Tyler, TX
  • Sally and David Martin, Santa Barbara, CA
  • Quackenbush and Winkler, Santa Barbara, CA
  • Ross Wood, Boston, MA
    		•

    VII. Memberships

  • Santa Barbara Art Association
  • Santa Barbara Arts Council
  • Plein Air Painters of America, 1989-1995
  • OAK Group
  • Heritage Gallery, San Francisco
  • California Art Club, Pasadena
    		•

    VIII. Bibliography

    1. 1. Blake, Janet, Meredith Brooks Abbott, Maureen Murphy Fine Arts, Montecito, CA, 2002.
    2. 2. Griscom, Elane, “About the Cover Artist: Meredith Brooks Abbott,” Montecito Magazine, Fall 1987, pp. 19-50.
    3. 3. Klein, Hilary Dole, “Meredith Brooks Abbott,” Art of California, Jan. 1991, p. 23-27.
    4. 4. Meredith Brooks Abbott, November 23 – December 14, Arlington Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA, 1991.
    5. 5. Siple, Molly, “Seeing Nature with Fresh Eyes,” American Artist, Sept. 2007, pp. 42-49.
    6. 6. Sloan, Margie, “Clarence Hinkle’s Riviera Studio: Built for an Artist,” Montecito Magazine, pp. 58-62.

    IX. Works For Sale By This Artist
    Previous | Next
    Blue Heron
    Bouquet in a Bowl
    Farm at Yules Lake
    Farming Village
    Fire Moon over Casitas Lake
    Magnolia Leaves and Pods
    Palms at the Rail Road
    Rabbit Flower Vase
    Santa Ynez Hay Field
    Previous | Next