Cleveland Abbe

Painting

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The Arts Club of Washington Collection

"Portrait of Cleveland Abbe", modern rendition based on historic images by Zachary Bowman, oil on canvas, ca. 2020.: Portrait of a bearded and bespectacled man dressed in a coat over vest and high collared white shirt facing forward with a bookcase and globe in the background.
"Portrait of Cleveland Abbe", modern rendition based on historic images by Zachary Bowman, oil on canvas, ca. 2020.

Portrait of a bearded and bespectacled man dressed in a coat over vest and high collared white shirt facing forward with a bookcase and globe in the background.

Name/Title

"Cleveland Abbe"

Type of Painting

Portrait

Artwork Details

Medium

Oil on Canvas

Subject Person or Organization

Cleveland Abbe

Context

In 1877, Cleveland Abbe (1838–1916) purchased 2017 I Street, N.W., (the home of The Arts Club of Washington) and lived there with his wife Frances Martha Neal (Fanny) and their two sons, Cleveland, Jr., and Truman. A native of New York City, Abbe was a Harvard-trained astronomer who worked for the United States Weather Bureau and is recognized for issuing its first official weather forecast. Fanny died in 1908; Abbe remarried the following year and moved to Chevy Chase, Maryland. He rented the house to St. John’s School for Girls and, in 1916, to The Arts Club of Washington, which purchased it from Abbe's heirs in 1918.

Made/Created

Artist

Bowman, Zachary

Date made

2020

Dimensions

Height

39 in

Width

27 in

Location

Building

H-102 First floor hallway

Acquisition

Acquisition Method

Gift

Date

2020

Acquired From

Henry Sienkiewicz and Jeffrey Brady

Update Date

May 23, 2026