Bighorns in
Glacier National Park
Oil on Canvas by Joe Abbrescia
Hockaday Museum Permanent Collection |
Joe Abbrescia (1936 -
2005)
Born in New York , Joe exhibited in
early childhood a strong capacity to
draw and paint. With the support and
encouragement of his family, Joe
received formal art training at the
American Academy of Art in Chicago. His
talents never went unnoticed: he served
as an illustrator in the U.S. Army, at
its Anchorage, Alaska base; was a
commercial artist for a major art studio
in Chicago; and opened "The Village Art
School" in Skokie, Illinois with his
brothers, Dominick and John in 1965,
where his unique teaching techniques
were instrumental in the development of
literally hundreds of aspiring painters.
Joe Abbrescia moved to Montana, then to
Arizona, and then back to Montana in
1992 where he and his wife, Sue, a fine
potter, made Kalispell their permanent
home and established the Abbrescia
Fine Art Studios and Gallery where
they showcased their work.
He received the Juror's Best of Show
Award at the 2002 and 1998 C. M.
Russell Museum Show and Auction as well
as Best Painting and Artist's
Choice Awards at prior C. M. Russell
Shows. In 1998 Abbrescia was chosen to
participate in the Glacier Park Artist
in Residence program and a major oil was
selected as Glacier National Park Art
Collections fine art limited edition
print.
He received the people's choice award at
the 2001 Montana Land Reliance benefit,
Artist's for Open Space. Joe Abbrescia
ran a gallery in Kalispell, Montana with
his talented wife Sue and their family.
At the time of his premature passing in
2005, Joe was recognized as one of
America's most distinguished landscape
painters. |