Edmond J. Fitzgerald Oil Painting "Mercedes"
Item Details
Edmond J. Fitzgerald (American; 1912 – 1989)
Mercedes
Oil on canvas board
Signed “E.J. Fitzgerald” to lower right
Titled and inscribed to verso
An oil painting on canvas board titled Mercedes by well-listed American artist Edmond James Fitzgerald (1912-1989). This bust portrait features a three-quarter view of a woman wearing a conical veiled hat and a red dress with a floral pattern. The work is signed ‘E.J. Fitzgerald’ to the lower right and titled to the canvas board verso. It is presented in an Arts & Crafts style gilt and gesso wood frame. Additional handwritten inscriptions are present throughout the verso, one of which reads the date ‘Jan. 29 – 1989’.
Provenance
From the artist’s estate
Renowned for his sea-landscape, landscape, portrait and genre paintings, Edmond J. Fitzgerald is prolific in a wide range of mediums including oil, watercolor, and charcoal. He is considered active in Washington, Seattle, New York and Cincinnati.
Fitzgerald grew up in the Seattle area, graduated from The California School of Fine Arts, and as a young man participated in an U.S. Geological Survey Expedition to Alaska. He is known for love of painting the outdoors. A Naval officer during World War II, he later continued many years in the Naval Reserves, with many naval art assignments.
He was notably influenced by Eustace Ziegler and Alaskan landscapes. He married Mary Louise Streets, a ceramics student before the war, and moved to New York after the war. He taught classes at institutions such as a Parson’s School of Design, and the New York Academy of Design. A former president of the Allied Artists of America and the American Watercolor Society, Fitzgerald’s art is in permanent collections at the White House, George Washington University, the Seattle Art Museum and many others. He authored art books titled Painting and Drawing in Charcoal and Oil and _Marine Painting in Watercolor. After Mary Louis Streets died he married Margaret Trent and relocated to Cincinnati, Ohio.
Condition
- small spots of accretion present in lower half of painting; some wear in frame includes small chips, stains, scratches, and finish loss scattered throughout.
Dimensions
- measurement of frame; board size measures approximately 16" W x 20" H.
Item #
18DCC700-161
