Downtown in Knoxville in Knox County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)

Robert Birdwell

(1924-2016)

Photographed By Tom Bosse, April 15, 2023

1. Robert Birdwell Marker

Inscription.

Robert Birdwell. Face of a City, 1957 Oil on canvas Knoxville Museum of Art, 1986 gift of the Knoxville Arts Center. A Knoxville native, Robert Birdwell grew up in the Lonsdale area before moving to Kingsport, Tenn. The GI Bill allowed him back to move back to Knoxville to study at the University of Tennessee and from there he attended the University of Iowa's respected School of Art., The Tennessee Valley Authority provided Birdwell with a 30-year career as a staff artist and muralist. He also maintained a personal studio downtown, first on Church Avenue, then at a corner studio in the Peter Kern building on Market Square, years before it became a hotel. After retiring from TVA, Birdwell taught art at Maryville College., Birdwell often drew inspiration from urban settings with downtown Knoxville his favorite painting location. With the Knoxville Seven, he experimented with degrees of abstraction but also focused on watercolor paintings of downtown Knoxville in a realist style. In the foreground of Face of a City is Knoxville's L&N Station, located nearby at the intersection of Summit Hill Drive and Henley Street., Just before his death at 91, Robert Birdwell attended the Knoxville Seven retrospective exhibition at the Knoxville Museum of Art in 2016. Upon his passing, his daughter Ann recalled her father's fondness for Knoxville. "He loved Market Square and all the people in it. He sketched the little ladies selling flowers and vegetables. Mrs. Ford, who sold cottage cheese, and Myrtle Price, who sold corn and peaches. They'd see him coming, and they'd start straightening their hair. They just loved him.", This painting is featured in the Knoxville Museum of Art’s permanent exhibition, Higher Ground: A Century of the Visual Arts in East Tennessee., Special thanks to the Knoxville Museum of Art, Downtown Art Wraps are coordinated by the Knoxville History Project, an educational nonprofit with a mission to research and promote the history and culture of Knoxville. KHP's educational articles and publications feature colorful characters, bizarre tales, interesting buildings, curious traditions, as well as seriously influential local events. Learn more at knoxvillehistoryproject.org, Photo: Knoxville Museum of Art .

Face of a City, 1957
Oil on canvas
Knoxville Museum of Art, 1986 gift of the Knoxville Arts Center
A Knoxville native, Robert Birdwell grew up in the Lonsdale area before moving to Kingsport, Tenn. The GI Bill allowed him back to move back to Knoxville to study at the University of Tennessee and from there he attended the University of Iowa's respected School of Art.

The Tennessee Valley Authority provided Birdwell with a 30-year career as a staff artist and muralist. He also maintained a personal studio downtown, first on Church Avenue, then at a corner studio in the Peter Kern building on Market Square, years before it became a hotel. After retiring from TVA, Birdwell taught art at Maryville College.

Birdwell often drew inspiration from urban settings with downtown Knoxville his favorite painting location. With the Knoxville Seven, he experimented with degrees of abstraction but also focused on watercolor paintings of downtown Knoxville in a realist style. In the foreground of Face of a City is Knoxville's L&N Station, located nearby at the intersection of Summit Hill Drive and Henley Street.

Just before his death at 91, Robert Birdwell attended the Knoxville Seven retrospective exhibition at the Knoxville Museum of Art in 2016. Upon his passing, his daughter Ann recalled

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her father's fondness for Knoxville. "He loved Market Square and all the people in it. He sketched the little ladies selling flowers and vegetables. Mrs. Ford, who sold cottage cheese, and Myrtle Price, who sold corn and peaches. They'd see him coming, and they'd start straightening their hair. They just loved him."

This painting is featured in the Knoxville Museum of Art’s permanent exhibition,
Higher Ground: A Century of the Visual Arts in East Tennessee.

Special thanks to the Knoxville Museum of Art

Downtown Art Wraps are coordinated by the Knoxville History Project, an
educational nonprofit with a mission to research and promote the history and culture
of Knoxville. KHP's educational articles and publications feature colorful characters,
bizarre tales, interesting buildings, curious traditions, as well as seriously influential
local events. Learn more at knoxvillehistoryproject.org

Photo: Knoxville Museum of Art

Erected by Knoxville History Project.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Arts, Letters, Music. In addition, it is included in the Knoxville History Project - Downtown Art Wraps series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1957.

Location. 35° 58.035′

Photographed By Tom Bosse, April 15, 2023

2. Robert Birdwell Marker

N, 83° 55.159′ W. Marker is in Knoxville, Tennessee, in Knox County. It is in Downtown. Marker is at the intersection of West Summit Hill Drive and South Gay Street, on the right when traveling east on West Summit Hill Drive. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Knoxville TN 37902, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Archie Campbell / Chet Atkins (within shouting distance of this marker); C. Kermit “Buck” Ewing (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Cal Fackler Johnson (about 300 feet away); a different marker also named Robert Birdwell (about 400 feet away); St. James Hotel (about 400 feet away); Uncle Dave Macon (about 500 feet away); The Midday Merry-Go-Round (about 500 feet away); Elvis Presley (about 500 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Knoxville.

Photographed By Tom Bosse, April 15, 2023

3. Robert Birdwell Marker

Photographed By Tom Bosse, April 15, 2023

4. Robert Birdwell Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on May 3, 2023. It was originally submitted on April 30, 2023, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 135 times since then and 17 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on April 30, 2023, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee. • James Hulse was the editor who published this page.