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MEREDITH BROOKS ABBOTT - Artists - Sullivan Goss Art Gallery

White Bouquet, 2014

36 x 24 inches  |  oil on canvas

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.

Videos

2:40  |  Narrated by Susan Bush  |  Released for MEREDITH BROOKS ABBOTT: Homestead, 2020

2:33 | Narrated by Susan Bush | Released for MEREDITH BROOKS ABBOTT: The Here & Now, 2017

2:50 | Narrated by Susan Bush | Released for MEREDITH BROOKS ABBOTT: Days that Count, 2015

2:50 | Narrated by Susan Bush | Released for MEREDITH BROOKS ABBOTT: At Home in Paradise, 2012

4:06 | Narrated by Frank Goss | Released for MEREDITH BROOKS ABBOTT: An Exhibition of New Paintings at Sullivan Goss, 2010

2:14 | Narrated by Susan Bush | Released to mark the gallery's representation of the artist

More Information

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

AWARDS & AFFILIATIONS

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

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

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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

EXHIBITIONS

2022  MEREDITH BROOKS ABBOTT: Perrenial, Sullivan Goss - An American Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA

2020  MEREDITH BROOKS ABBOTT: Homestead, Sullivan Goss - An American Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA

2017  MEREDITH BROOKS ABBOTT: The Here & Now, Sullivan Goss - An American Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA

2015  MEREDITH BROOKS ABBOTT: Days that Count, Sullivan Goss - An American Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA

2012  MEREDITH BROOKS ABBOTT: At Home in Paradise, Sullivan Goss - An American Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA

2010  Meredith Brooks Abbott, Sullivan Goss - An American Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA

2009  A Winter Quartet, Sullivan Goss - An American Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA

1996-2008  Maureen Murphy Fine Arts, Montecito, CA

1997  Nature Preserved, Heritage Gallery, San Francisco

1996  Westmont College, Montecito, CA

1995  Art Walk, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, CA

1995-1997  Easton Gallery 1985-1995  Arlington Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA

1974-1984  Gallery de Silva, Santa Barbara, CA

1972-1974  Village Frame and Gallery, Fairfax and Ross, CA

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