Jackson Lee Nesbitt

Jackson Lee Nesbitt (June 16, 1913 – February 20, 2008) was an American printmaker, teacher, painter, and ad executive. He took pride in calling Thomas Hart Benton a teacher, a mentor and his friend. Jack stayed true to his Regionalist roots, despite the dominance of Abstract Expressionism and he enjoyed the resurrection of his career at age 75.

Early Life and Career Jackson Lee Nesbitt was born in McAlester, Oklahoma and worked for his father's printing business until 1931, when he enrolled in the University of Oklahoma, Norman. His name is derived from his maternal and paternal grandparents. His grandfather, James Blackburn Nesbitt, fought on the Union side at Shiloh in the American Civil War. In 1946, Nesbitt was awarded the Eames Prize by the Society of American Etchers.

In 1993, Kansas City’s Legacy Art Gallery, would exhibit works by Nesbitt and other artists found in the book Under the Influence: The Students of Thomas Hart Benton. The gallery exhibition opened in conjunction with the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art and the publication of the book authored by Dr. Marianne Berardi, and her husband and Thomas Hart Benton authenticator, Dr. Henry Adams. The book and the subsequent gallery opening in Kansas City led to several articles featuring these artists in the Journal of Print World.

Nesbitt referred to Reeves Lewenthal, then Director of AAA, as “tighter than the bark on a birch tree.” Lewenthal wanted to see the finished work before he would commit to buying it. Georgetown University Art Collection, Washington DC High Museum of Art Kalamazoo institute of the Arts, Kalamazoo MI Krannert Art Museum at U. of Illinois Kresge Art Museum Library of Congress Mead Art Museum at Amherst College Memphis Brooks Museum of Art Minneapolis Institute of Art Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, GA Muscarelle Museum of Art at College of William & Mary U. Williamsburg VA Muskegon Museum of Art, Muskegon, MI Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri New Orleans Museum of Art Philbrook Art Museum, Tulsa, OK Orlando Museum of Art Smithsonian American Art Museum Santa Barbara Museum of Art Syracuse University Art Museum Toledo Museum of Art Weisman Art Museum at U of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN Wichita Falls Museum of Art, Wichita, TX