Robert Jessup (b. 1952, Moscow, Idaho) is an American painter recognized for a career spanning more than four decades of exploration between figuration and abstraction. Raised in Seattle, Washington, he received his BFA in Painting from the University of Washington in 1975 and his MFA from the University of Iowa in 1979.
Throughout his career, Jessup’s work has evolved through several distinct phases. His earlier paintings were often large-scale figurative compositions charged with psychological tension, symbolic imagery, and heavily textured surfaces. Since the early 2010s, his practice has increasingly embraced abstraction, emphasizing gesture, movement, color, and improvisation while maintaining the emotional intensity that has long defined his work.
Known for energetic surfaces, bold chromatic relationships, and dynamic spatial structures, Jessup’s paintings balance instinct and control, creating compositions that feel both visceral and lyrical. His recent works explore an increasingly fluid and improvisational approach to painting, driven by what the artist describes as “the chase of desire that is painting.”
Jessup taught painting and drawing at numerous major institutions including Ohio State University, Georgia State University, Cornell University, the Hartford Art School, and the University of North Texas, where he served as Professor of Painting and Drawing and later became Professor Emeritus.
His work has been exhibited extensively throughout the United States and internationally, including exhibitions at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Conduit Gallery, Fay Gold Gallery, Schomburg Gallery, and Besharat Gallery.
Jessup’s paintings are included in numerous public and private collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Dallas Museum of Art, the High Museum of Art, the Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art, and the University of Virginia Art Museum.
Robert Jessup currently lives and works in Denton, Texas.