After traveling extensively in Spain and the South Seas, he lived in Chicago, New York, and Coronado Beach, CA (1917–32).
He moved to Honolulu in 1932 and taught at the University of Hawaii.
During the Great Depression he was a Works Progress Administration muralist.
His murals are in the Ala Moana Park Sports Pavilion in Honolulu and at Palmer House in Chicago.The Honolulu Museum of Art and Smithsonian American Art Museum are among the public collections holding works of Robert Lee Eskridge.