Robert Wathen was a Madisonville, Kentucky, native who trained and worked in Louisville as a commercial artist. He took up etching and exhibited at the Louisville Art Center, the Speed Art Museum and the Spalding University gallery. He was a member of the Louisville Watercolor Society.

Wathen is one of the subjects of Black and White: Kentucky Prints and Printmakers from the Collection of Warren and Julie Payne, available here and on Amazon.