Jim Rabby Sold at Auction Prices

b. 1947 -

Jim Howard Rabby (Texas, New Mexico, 20th century). Contemporary Southwest Oil Painter.Jim Rabby has developed a style that embodies his personality and the response to his paintings has been as positive as the man painting them.
At the age of nine months, Rabby contracted polio. He considers it the single, most powerful, positive event in his life. Raised in Houston, Texas, Jims incredibly formative time as a youth was spent in and out of charity hospitals. He had operations all through the fifties: the drugs given with those operations had a deep influence. Jim started painting in the back room of his parents art supply and frame shop. At the age of nine, he had a profound vision that he was a sculptor who was going to be painting. Jim felt that if he gave it everything he could possibly muster, every resource, he could accomplish doing some really great art work.
Rabby studied economics at the University of Houston, painting to put himself through school. Inspired by Picasso whom Jim believes lived in voracious curiosity; Jim experimented with many styles and mediums, from painting exotic dancers on stage to portraying sporting events. His reputation grew and soon his work was exhibited in major museums and corporate headquarters throughout the country, such as IBM, Honeywell, General Motors and Coca-Cola. Lyndon Johnson, whom Jim spent a day with in 1972, joined his list of private collectors, which also includes Johnny Carson, Jimmy Connors and H.L. Hunt among others.
In the early seventies Jim opened The Westheimer Gallery. He exhibited his work exclusively and painted in his studio on the third floor. He also maintained a studio in beautiful San Miguel de Allende. Rabby painted voraciously in both of his studios. A wonderful lady friend who taught ballet at the Bellas Artes in Mexico told Jim she had a vision of him moving to Santa Fe, New Mexico. On a snowy February day in 1983, he did just that. Jim is now showing his work in Santa Fe at his studio and gallery located at 734 Dunlap Street, just eight blocks west of the Plaza.