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Copley Fine Art Auctions is the world's leading American sporting art auction company. Located in Hingham, MA, Copley specializes in antique decoys and 19th- and 20th-century American, sporting, and wildlife paintings. Principal Stephen O'Brien Jr., a fourth-generation sportsman with a refined colle...Read more
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Jul 13, 2023
Robert Kennedy Abbett (1926-2015)
Bo and Duke, 1981
signed and dated "R. Abbett (c) 1981" lower right
oil on board, 21 by 36 3/4 in.
signed, titled, and inscribed on back
"As a bird hunter who has owned many setters and labs over the years, this Abbett work speaks to me. It captures a setter's essence of running freely, showing his young friend the way." — Stephen B. O'Brien Jr.
This painting depicts two of the artist’s own dogs, Duke of Oakdale and Bo Jangles. In "A Season for Painting," Abbett recalls that his setter Duke "graced our family for his lifetime as hunting dog and artist's model and all-around pal." Remembering his Labrador, Abbett writes, “Bo’s worst problem was his unlimited energy; he should have belonged to someone who hunted ducks with him at least twice a day, twelve months a year, with an occasional field trial or two thrown in. As a pup, he would sit in the studio watching me, crouched like a leopard about to spring, and I would tell him, ‘Look, Bo, I’m sorry, but there’s just not a lot going on right now.’ Perhaps I should have named him ‘Patton:’ his charge was unstoppable.”
Bill Webster selected this iconic painting to make into a limited-edition print by Wild Wings in 1982.
Literature: Robert K. Abbett, "A Season for Painting: The Outdoor Art of Robert K. Abbett," Dallas, TX, 2001, pp. 32, 48, 71, and 178, print illustrated.
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