Introduction
ROBERT FREDERICK ZOELLER was a well-known marine painter and muralist, skilled in both watercolors and oils. He was widely recognized for his seascapes, lighthouses, harbor scenes, and landscapes, which earned him prizes in Long Island, New York City, and Florida. He painted more than 500 portraits of yachts and boats, some used as covers for magazines such as The Rudder and Motor Boating. He preferred to paint boats under way and lighthouses from the sailor's point of view.
Listed in Who's Who in American Art and a member of the National Society of Mural Painters, Robert Zoeller's murals are on permanent display in the Town Hall in Brookhaven, and in Patchogue, Long Island.
Robert Zoeller studied at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington D.C. and the Carnegie Institute of Technology of Pittsburgh, and was a graduate of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh.
During his career, he worked for over 25 years as a commercial artist in New York City, and served as Art Director for the J.C. Penney stores of New York and the Patchogue Electric Light Company in Patchogue, Long Island. He engaged in many commercial projects all over Long Island, including painting murals in public buildings, drafting for businesses and churches, and creating advertising illustration for publication.
Robert Zoeller made his home and studio in Mt. Sinai, Long Island, New York, where he and his noted artist wife, Sara Whitney Olds (1899–1969), worked and taught. Besides painting, he was an expert carver of wooden ducks and a professional photographer. His sketchbooks demonstrate the wide range of his travels all over the Eastern seaboard with his wife, Sara, exploring the seacoast, and searching for reference and source material for his paintings.
The Zoellers had two daughters, Patricia Z. Phillips (1923–2005) and Bonnie Gardner (1928–2004), and six grandchildren.
Robert Zoeller was born on July 19, 1894, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and died on March 11, 1978, in Smithtown, New York.
Patchogue-Medford Mural Installation, 2010
In 2010, Robert Zoeller's mural, Scenes Along the Patchogue River (circa 1900), which formerly hung in the Union Savings Bank in Patchogue, Long Island, was restored and installed in the Patchogue-Medford Library. An opening and art exhibit accompanied the installation.
Poster from the 2010 Robert Zoeller art exhibit at the Patchogue-Medford Library.
- Contact Robert Zoeller's family at info @ robertzoeller.com.