John Kelly Fitzpatrick (1888–1953) was a regionalist American painter from

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

Biography

Early life

John Kelly Fitzpatrick was born in 1888 in

Wetumpka, Alabama Wetumpka () is a city in and the county seat of Elmore County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 7,220. In the early 21st century Elmore County became one of the fastest-growing counties in the state. The city is ...

.Encyclopedia of Alabama
/ref>The Johnson Collection
/ref>The Charleston Renaissance Gallery
/ref>Rebecca Mark (ed.), Robert C. Vaughan (ed.), ''The South'', Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004 , p. 5

/ref> His father, Phillips Fitzpatrick (1830–1901), was a physician, and his mother was Jane Lovedy Kelly (1850–1913). His paternal grandfather,

Benjamin Fitzpatrick Benjamin Fitzpatrick (June 30, 1802 – November 21, 1869) was the 11th Governor of the U.S. state of Alabama and a United States Senator from that state. He was a Democrat. Early life Born in Greene County, Georgia, Fitzpatrick was orphaned ...

(1802–1869), served as the Governor of

from 1841 to 1845. He attended the Stark University School in Montgomery and went to the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publi ...

to study journalism for two years, until he dropped out. He then spent a semester at the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mil ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

, but dropped out again. In 1918, he joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

and served in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

. In 1929, he spent a few months at the

Académie Julian The Académie Julian () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907) that was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the numbe ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

. In other words, his formal education was fairly limited, as he never managed to receive a degree from an institution of higher education.

Career

As a regionalist painter, Fitzpatrick is best known for his paintings of rural Alabama, especially his home county of

Elmore County, Alabama Elmore County is a county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census, the population was 87,977. Its county seat is Wetumpka. Its name is in honor of General John A. Elmore. Elmore County is part ...

. He was inspired by French painters like

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th-century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically d ...

(1839–1906),

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

(1853–1890), and

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, and sculptur ...

(1869–1954). In the French tradition, he often painted out in the open, near lakes or creeks in the Alabama countryside. Together with a group of artists known as the Morningview Painters, Fitzpatrick founded the Alabama Art League in the late 1920s. This led to the establishment of the

Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts The Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts is a museum located in Montgomery, Alabama, USA, featuring several art collections. The permanent collection includes examples of 19th- and 20th-century American paintings and sculpture, Southern regional art, Ol ...

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...

in 1930. He sat on its original Board of Trustees and helped develop its permanent collection. Some of his work is still exhibited there. He also taught painting and served as director of the Montgomery Museum Art School.Ted Olson (ed.), ''CrossRoads: A Southern Culture Annual'', Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press, 2004, p. 11

/ref> In 1938 and 1939, he was commissioned by the federal government as part of the

Public Works of Art Project The Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) was a New Deal program designed to employ artists that operated from 1933 to 1934. The program was headed by Edward Bruce, under the United States Treasury Department with funding from the Civil Works Admi ...

to produce paintings, including

murals A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanis ...

inside the newly constructed post offices in the towns of

Ozark, Alabama Ozark is a city in and the county seat of Dale County, Alabama. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 14,907. Ozark is the principal city of the Ozark Micropolitan Statistical Area, as well as a part of the Dothan-Ozark Combin ...

titled ''Early Industry of Dale County'' and in

Phenix City, Alabama Phenix City is a city in Lee and Russell counties in the U.S. state of Alabama, and the county seat of Russell County. As of the 2020 Census, the population of the city was 38,817. Phenix City lies immediately west across the Chattahoochee Riv ...

titled ''Cotton''. In 1933, Fitzpatrick co-founded the

Dixie Art Colony The Dixie Art Colony was an art colony in Alabama from 1933 to 1948. History The Dixie Art Colony was established by John Kelly Fitzpatrick (1888-1953), Sallie B. Carmichael and her daughter Warree Carmichael LeBron in 1933. The idea was to establ ...

with Sallie B. Carmichael and her daughter Warree Carmichael LeBron. The idea was to establish an

artist colony An art colony, also known as an artists' colony, can be defined two ways. Its most liberal description refers to the organic congregation of artists in towns, villages and rural areas, often drawn by areas of natural beauty, the prior existence o ...

to paint and train burgeoning artists in the South. From 1937, they met at Poka Hutchi ("gathering of picture writers" in Creek Indian parlance), a small cabin on Lake Jordan. Later, Frank W. Applebee, the Chair of the School of Art and Architecture at Auburn University and a painter, joined the colony, as did

Genevieve Southerland Genevieve Southerland (died June 30, 1953) was an American painter. She was a member of the Dixie Art Colony, and she established the Coden Art Colony in 1950. She was the vice president of the Alabama Art League and the Water Color Society of ...

Anne Wilson Goldthwaite Anne Goldthwaite (June 28, 1869 – January 29, 1944) was an American painter and printmaker and an advocate of women's rights and equal rights. Goldthwaite studied art in New York City. She then moved to Paris where she studied modern art, includ ...

and Lamar Dodd (1909-1996). The colony last met in 1948. The ''John Kelly Fitzpatrick Gallery'' is in the City Administration Building in Wetumpka, Alabama.Wetumpka Chamber of Commerce
/ref> Additionally, some of his paintings can be found in the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts and the

Alabama Department of Archives and History The Alabama Department of Archives and History is the official repository of archival records for the U.S. state of Alabama. Under the direction of Thomas M. Owen its founder, the agency received state funding by an act of the Alabama Legisla ...

in Montgomery as well as the Johnson Collection in

Spartanburg, South Carolina Spartanburg is a city in and the seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city of Spartanburg has a municipal population of 38,732 as of the 2020 census, making it the 11th-largest city in the state. For a time, the Offi ...

and the

Ogden Museum of Southern Art The Ogden Museum of Southern Art is located in the Warehouse Arts District of downtown New Orleans, Louisiana. Established in 1999, and in Stephen Goldring Hall at 925 Camp Street since 2003. The building The Ogden consists of two main buildin ...

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Ogden Museum of Southern Art

Death

He died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which m ...

on April 18, 1953. He was buried in the Wetumpka City Cemetery.

Selected paintings

*''The Sugar Cane Mill'' (Montgomery, Alabama: Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, 1933). *''Monday Morning'' (Montgomery, Alabama: Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, 1934). *''Oat Fields'' (Spartanburg, South Carolina: The Johnson Collection, 1936). *''Jug Factory'' (Spartanburg, South Carolina: The Johnson Collection, 1937). *''Mules to Market'' (New Orleans, Louisiana: Ogden Museum of Southern Art, 1937). *''Harvest'' (Spartanburg, South Carolina: The Johnson Collection, 1941). *''Creek Indian Corn Dance'' (Montgomery, Alabama: Alabama Department of Archives and History, 1945).Alabama Dept. of Archives and History Digital Collections
/ref> *''Hillbilly Barn Dance'' (Montgomery, Alabama: Alabama Department of Archives and History, 1945). *''Minuet'' (Montgomery, Alabama: Alabama Department of Archives and History, 1947). *''Swinging on the Grapevine'' (Montgomery, Alabama: Alabama Department of Archives and History, 1948).

Secondary sources

*''John Kelly Fitzpatrick: Retrospective Exhibition'' (Montgomery, Alabama: Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, 1970). *''A Symphony of Color: The World of Kelly Fitzpatrick'' (Montgomery: Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, 1991). *''Dixie Art Colony Foundation'' (Wetumpka: Dixie Art Colony Foundation, 2017).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzpatrick, John Kelly 1888 births 1953 deaths People from Wetumpka, Alabama 20th-century American painters American male painters Section of Painting and Sculpture artists 20th-century American male artists