Fitzgerald, James, 1899-1971

Painter; California and Maine.

Born in Milton, Massachusetts, Fitzgerald studied from 1919 to 1923 at the Massachusetts School of Art and from 1923 to 1924 at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts School with Philip Hale, Leslie P. Thompson, and Edmund C. Tarbell. Between 1923 and 1928, he sailed on fishing ships and freighters, eventually settling in Monterey, California, in 1928, where he established a studio and became associated with a group including John Cage, Martha Graham, E.F. Ricketts, and John Steinbeck. From 1936 to 1942, Fitzgerald taught painting in California, then sold his studio the following year to move to Monhegan, Maine, which he had first visited in 1923. From 1944 to 1971, he worked mostly at Monhegan and made annual trips to Mt. Katahdin. During this time, he befriended Rockwell Kent, who owned a cottage on Monhegan. Fitzgerald died suddenly on the island of Arranmore, Co. Donegal, Ireland, where he had gone to paint.

From the description of James Fitzgerald papers, 1905-1991. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122370552