Henry Clay’s Ashland

Bob Willcutt has always had an interest and respect for all types of art, especially photography. He came to Kentucky in 1966 to attend the University of Kentucky, and although he still did some photography, his time was spent on scholastic and musical pursuits. When he started his own business in 1968 and expanded to a full store in 1979, naming it Willcutt Guitars, he was attracted to the art aspect of guitars. When he began his website, WillcuttGuitars.com, in 1998, he was finally able to use his photog Learn More about Bob Willcutt

Bob Willcutt has always had an interest and respect for all types of art, especially photography where being the photo editor of his high school paper taught him film techniques and developmental editing. He moved from Washington D.C. to Kentucky in 1966 to attend the University of Kentucky, earning a BA and MSW. Although he did photography, his main focus was on scholastic and musical pursuits.

When he started his own business in 1968 and expanded it in 1979, naming it Willcutt Guitars, he was attracted to the art as well as the musical aspect of guitars. In 1998 he created the website Willcutt Guitars.com and built it around high-quality photographs of the world’s most beautiful instruments.

Bob has published Feathers of Fayette—Wild Birds of Lexington, Kentucky in 2018; Henry Clay’s Ashland—A Pictorial Tribute to one of America’s Greatest Statesmen and His Lexington Estate in 2019; The Musical Instrument Collector, originally published in 1977, reprinted in 1978 and 2020; Waveland’s Treasures in 2021, which was awarded the Kentucky Historical Society’s Private Press Award and the Bluegrass Trust’s Clay Lancaster Heritage Education Award; Ward Hall—Kentucky’s Greek Revival Masterpiece in 2023; The Lex Luthier Articles in 2023; and Gratz Park—The Heart of Historic Lexington in 2025,  which was also awarded the Bluegrass Trust’s Clay Lancaster Heritage Education Award, and Bell Court Historic Lexington’s Timeless Jewel published in 2026

His award-winning photographs have been published in American Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Kentucky Historical Society, Hopewell Museum, Kentucky Quilts and Quiltmakers, Memorial Coliseum, American Spirit, The Herald Leader, Tops in Lexington, The Southsider, Chevy Chaser, Jessamine Journal, Kentucky Living, Princeton University Press, and others.