Edmond J. Fitzgerald Oil Painting "Portrait of Desme"
Item Details
Edmond James Fitzgerald (American, 1912-1989)
Portrait of Desme, 1950
Oil painting on canvas
Signed and dated to lower right
An oil painting titled Portrait of Desme by well listed artist Edmond James Fitzgerald (American, 1912-1989). This portrait depicts a young girl ‘Desme’ seated on a chair in Edmond Fitzgerald’s art studio. Her expression and posture is a combination of youthful innocence and humor, with a hint of sprite, as seen by the steady stare and slight smile. Signed ‘Edmond J. Fitzgerald ’50’ to the lower right edge of the painting. It is presented in a weathered wood frame with a lower metal placard marked ‘Desme.’ The reverse also includes an aged placard affixed to the frame. The painting includes a document of restoration by Wiebold Art Conservation Lab, Terrace Park, Ohio, with a certificate from 1990. The art also includes a mounted art lamp, and a wire to the verso.
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 his 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 is 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.
Dimensions
Item #
18CIN500-178
