Selected Chronology
1899
March 8: James Edward Fitzgerald born, Boston, Massachusetts, the second of eight children of Thomas F. and Elizabeth (Splain) Fitzgerald.
1911
Family moves to Dorchester and James enters Mechanic Arts High School.
1918
June: Inducted into U.S. Marine Corps.
1919
March: Honorable discharge from U.S. Marine Corps.
November: Enrolls in 4 year program at Massachusetts Normal Art School (Massachusetts School of Art). Studies with Cyrus Dallin and Ernest Lee Major.
1923
June: Graduates: Special Certificate for a 4-Year Course in Painting and Drawing.
August: Shares studio in Rockport, Massachusetts with Aldro Hibbard.
September: Sails aboard the schooner Elizabeth Howard to the Grand Banks.
October: Enrolls at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, receives School Scholarship, studies with Frederick Bosley, Philip Hale, Leslie Thompson.
1924
June: First visit to Monhegan Island, Maine.
December: Graduates from MFA school, Boston.
1925
Opens studio in Boston on Chestnut Street.
Returns to Monhegan Island.
1927
March: Visits Barbados, with return on the SS Vauban.
1928
April: Publishes article about 1923 Elizabeth Howard voyage in the Christian Science Monitor.
September: Voyage on SS Vestris to Caribbean. Visits Trinidad, Barbados, Grenada, and Tobago.
December: Departs NY harbor on SS Dorothy Luckenbach for Seattle; settles in Monterey, California.
1929
May: First solo California exhibition, Del Monte Art Gallery, watercolors and oils.
December: Buys land in Monterey on Via Gayuba to build house/studio.
1930
Becomes associated with Cannery Row circle that includes John Steinbeck and Edward “Doc” Ricketts.
January: Publishes article about Monterey sardine fishery in the Christian Science Monitor.
February: First prize in watercolors, Santa Cruz Art League Third Annual Statewide.
August: Plays title role in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar at Forest Theater, Monterey.
November: Fitzgerald’s father dies.
1931
June: Opens Carmel’s first gallery established and operated by artists (“Over Tilly’s”) with Paul Whitman, Jo Mora, Homer Levinson, and Armin Hansen.
November: Marries Margaret (Pegs) Mathers.
1932
July: spends summer in Santa Fe and Taos, New Mexico.
November: Membership and first exhibition at Carmel Art Association.
1933
January: Brooklyn Museum, NY invitational “Water Color Paintings, Pastels, and Drawings by American and European Artists.”
December: Begins mural Quarrying for the Old Custom House in Monterey, sponsored by the WPA Public Works of Art Project (completed March 1934).
1934
September: Begins mural Net Menders for Monterey Union High School, sponsored by California State Emergency Relief Administration (completed September 1935).
1935
August: Second prize in watercolors, California 81st Annual State Fair, Sacramento.
1935-1943
Continues WPA sponsored work painting watercolors for Federal Art Project. Also created watercolors for the Treasury Relief Arts Program.
1936
June: Travels East with Pegs and spends summer on Monhegan; returns to Monterey in October.
1937
May: Travels east to Monhegan. Exhibits in London, England at Goupil Gallery Salon.
October: Spends winter in Vermont. Rents room in Brattleboro. Visits Tunbridge with Aldro Hibbard in November
1938
February–April: relocates to Townshend and South Royalton, VT.
June: Spends summer on Monhegan.
December: Returns to Monterey.
1939
January: Participates in Golden Gate International Exposition, Treasure Island, CA. First exhibition of Snow, Ice and Water.
April: Fitzgerald files for divorce in California.
September: Second prize in watercolors, California 85th Annual State Fair, Sacramento.
1940
January: Solo exhibition of watercolors, Stendahl Galleries, Los Angeles.
1941
January: Divorce granted, although they reconciled and lived together until 1945.
1942
May: Solo exhibition at Del Monte Art Gallery (the venue’s final exhibition prior to the site’s requisition for the war effort).
1943
January: First prize in watercolors, Santa Cruz Art League, Fourteenth Annual State-Wide Art Exhibition, for Snow Ice and Water.
May: Sells his studio home in Monterey.|
June: Moves to Monhegan, Maine.
1944
January: Solo exhibition of watercolors, Milch Galleries, New York.
May: Robert C. Vose Galleries, Boston, begins relationship with artist; first of several watercolor exhibitions; paintings sold to American museums (Farnsworth; Brooks; Asheville).
July: Solo exhibition at Walker Art Gallery, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME; travels to L.D.M. Sweat Memorial Museum (Portland Museum of Art), Portland, ME.
November-March 1945: Spends winter in Jamaica, Vermont.
1946
Autumn: First trip to northern Maine’s Mt. Katahdin, with subsequent annual visits until 1971.
1947
January: Begins spending winters in NYC doing decorative gilding.
January–March: USO Camp Shows Sketch Artists Program, NYC.
Summer: First visit to Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia
1948
January: Solo exhibition Fitchburg Art Center, Mass.; final exhibition during his lifetime.
1952
May: Purchases studio on Monhegan built by Rockwell Kent in 1910.
1953
August: First correspondence with Rockwell Kent
1954
January: Visits Rockwell and Sally Kent at Asgaard, NY
1955
October: Ceases relationship with Vose Galleries, Boston.
1958
July: Purchases from Rockwell Kent his 1906 home on Monhegan Island. Meets Anne M. Hubert at his Monhegan studio.
1961
February: Fitzgerald’s mother dies.
May: visits Vermont.
1963
March: Gilds mirrors at Rosedown Plantation, St. Francisville, Louisiana.
April: Signs will naming Anne and Edgar Hubert as executors and heirs.
September: Spinal operation, Boston.
1965
January–March: Visits all three Aran Islands, Ireland.
1966
January–March: visits Dunquin, Co. Kerry, Ireland including Dingle Peninsula and Great Blasket Island.
1967
January–April: Visits Madrid, Tenerife, London, and Letterkenny, Co. Donegal.
1968
February: Visits Katahdin Lake Camps in winter with Clarence Hilyard.
March–May: visits London, Dunlewey, Co. Donegal and Maladmore, Co. Sligo
1970
November: Last visit to Millinocket, Maine; stays through March 1971.
1971
March: Travels to London, Amsterdam, Ireland.
April 9: Dies suddenly on Aranmore Ireland, Co. Donegal, Ireland, and is buried at Mt. Jerome Cemetery, Dublin.
Selected Chronology
1899
March 8: James Edward Fitzgerald born, Boston, Massachusetts, the second of eight children of Thomas F. and Elizabeth (Splain) Fitzgerald.
1911
Family moves to Dorchester and James enters Mechanic Arts High School.
1918
June: Inducted into U.S. Marine Corps.
1919
March: Honorable discharge from U.S. Marine Corps.
November: Enrolls in 4 year program at Massachusetts Normal Art School (Massachusetts School of Art). Studies with Cyrus Dallin and Ernest Lee Major.
1923
June: Graduates: Special Certificate for a 4-Year Course in Painting and Drawing.
August: Shares studio in Rockport, Massachusetts with Aldro Hibbard.
September: Sails aboard the schooner Elizabeth Howard to the Grand Banks.
October: Enrolls at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, receives School Scholarship, studies with Frederick Bosley, Philip Hale, Leslie Thompson.
1924
June: First visit to Monhegan Island, Maine.
December: Graduates from MFA school, Boston.
1925
Opens studio in Boston on Chestnut Street.
Returns to Monhegan Island.
1927
March: Visits Barbados, with return on the SS Vauban.
1928
April: Publishes article about 1923 Elizabeth Howard voyage in the Christian Science Monitor.
September: Voyage on SS Vestris to Caribbean. Visits Trinidad, Barbados, Grenada, and Tobago.
December: Departs NY harbor on SS Dorothy Luckenbach for Seattle; settles in Monterey, California.
1929
May: First solo California exhibition, Del Monte Art Gallery, watercolors and oils.
December: Buys land in Monterey on Via Gayuba to build house/studio.
1930
Becomes associated with Cannery Row circle that includes John Steinbeck and Edward “Doc” Ricketts.
January: Publishes article about Monterey sardine fishery in the Christian Science Monitor.
February: First prize in watercolors, Santa Cruz Art League Third Annual Statewide.
August: Plays title role in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar at Forest Theater, Monterey.
November: Fitzgerald’s father dies.
1931
June: Opens Carmel’s first gallery established and operated by artists (“Over Tilly’s”) with Paul Whitman, Jo Mora, Homer Levinson, and Armin Hansen.
November: Marries Margaret (Pegs) Mathers.
1932
July: spends summer in Santa Fe and Taos, New Mexico.
November: Membership and first exhibition at Carmel Art Association.
1933
January: Brooklyn Museum, NY invitational “Water Color Paintings, Pastels, and Drawings by American and European Artists.”
December: Begins mural Quarrying for the Old Custom House in Monterey, sponsored by the WPA Public Works of Art Project (completed March 1934).
1934
September: Begins mural Net Menders for Monterey Union High School, sponsored by California State Emergency Relief Administration (completed September 1935).
1935
August: Second prize in watercolors, California 81st Annual State Fair, Sacramento.
1935-1943
Continues WPA sponsored work painting watercolors for Federal Art Project. Also created watercolors for the Treasury Relief Arts Program.
1936
June: Travels East with Pegs and spends summer on Monhegan; returns to Monterey in October.
1937
May: Travels east to Monhegan. Exhibits in London, England at Goupil Gallery Salon.
October: Spends winter in Vermont. Rents room in Brattleboro. Visits Tunbridge with Aldro Hibbard in November
1938
February–April: relocates to Townshend and South Royalton, VT.
June: Spends summer on Monhegan.
December: Returns to Monterey.
1939
January: Participates in Golden Gate International Exposition, Treasure Island, CA. First exhibition of Snow, Ice and Water.
April: Fitzgerald files for divorce in California.
September: Second prize in watercolors, California 85th Annual State Fair, Sacramento.
1940
January: Solo exhibition of watercolors, Stendahl Galleries, Los Angeles.
1941
January: Divorce granted, although they reconciled and lived together until 1945.
1942
May: Solo exhibition at Del Monte Art Gallery (the venue’s final exhibition prior to the site’s requisition for the war effort).
1943
January: First prize in watercolors, Santa Cruz Art League, Fourteenth Annual State-Wide Art Exhibition, for Snow Ice and Water.
May: Sells his studio home in Monterey.
June: Moves to Monhegan, Maine.
1944
January: Solo exhibition of watercolors, Milch Galleries, New York.
May: Robert C. Vose Galleries, Boston, begins relationship with artist; first of several watercolor exhibitions; paintings sold to American museums (Farnsworth; Brooks; Asheville).
July: Solo exhibition at Walker Art Gallery, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME; travels to L.D.M. Sweat Memorial Museum (Portland Museum of Art), Portland, ME.
November-March 1945: Spends winter in Jamaica, Vermont.
1944
January: Solo exhibition of watercolors, Milch Galleries, New York.
May: Robert C. Vose Galleries, Boston, begins relationship with artist; first of several watercolor exhibitions; paintings sold to American museums (Farnsworth; Brooks; Asheville).
July: Solo exhibition at Walker Art Gallery, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME; travels to L.D.M. Sweat Memorial Museum (Portland Museum of Art), Portland, ME.
November-March 1945: Spends winter in Jamaica, Vermont.
1946
Autumn: First trip to northern Maine’s Mt. Katahdin, with subsequent annual visits until 1971.
1947
January: Begins spending winters in NYC doing decorative gilding.
January–March: USO Camp Shows Sketch Artists Program, NYC.
Summer: First visit to Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia
1948
January: Solo exhibition Fitchburg Art Center, Mass.; final exhibition during his lifetime.
1952
May: Purchases studio on Monhegan built by Rockwell Kent in 1910.
1953
August: First correspondence with Rockwell Kent
1954
January: Visits Rockwell and Sally Kent at Asgaard, NY
1955
October: Ceases relationship with Vose Galleries, Boston.
1958
July: Purchases from Rockwell Kent his 1906 home on Monhegan Island. Meets Anne M. Hubert at his Monhegan studio.
1961
February: Fitzgerald’s mother dies.
May: visits Vermont.
1963
March: Gilds mirrors at Rosedown Plantation, St. Francisville, Louisiana.
April: Signs will naming Anne and Edgar Hubert as executors and heirs.
September: Spinal operation, Boston.
1965
January–March: Visits all three Aran Islands, Ireland.
1966
January–March: visits Dunquin, Co. Kerry, Ireland including Dingle Peninsula and Great Blasket Island.
1967
January–April: Visits Madrid, Tenerife, London, and Letterkenny, Co. Donegal.
1968
February: Visits Katahdin Lake Camps in winter with Clarence Hilyard.
March–May: visits London, Dunlewey, Co. Donegal and Maladmore, Co. Sligo
1970
November: Last visit to Millinocket, Maine; stays through March 1971.
1971
March: Travels to London, Amsterdam, Ireland.
April 9: Dies suddenly on Aranmore Ireland, Co. Donegal, Ireland, and is buried at Mt. Jerome Cemetery, Dublin.