Joe Abbrescia

Joe Abbrescia (October 1, 1936 - February 17, 2005) was an American painter of the American West. By 2002, he had become "one of the country's most accomplished plein-air artists."

Abbrescia was born on October 1, 1936 in New York City. He attended the American Academy of Art in Chicago.

With his brother, Abbrescia was the co-director of an art school in Skokie, Illinois from the 1950s to the 1970s, when he moved to Kalispell, Montana to focus on his own paintings. Abbrescia painted the American West. By 2002, he had become "one of the country's most accomplished plein-air artists."

Abbrescia won the Best of Show distinction at the C. M. Russell Auction of Original Western Art three times: once in 2002, and twice in 2004. He also won the Honorary Chairman's Award from the C. M. Russell Museum in Great Falls, Montana in 2005.

With his wife Sue, Abbrescia had two sons.

Abbrescia died of cancer on February 17, 2005 in Kalispell, Montana, at age 68.