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Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald D.F.A., also known as L. L. FitzGerald (March 17, 1890 – August 5, 1956) was a
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
artist and art educator. He was the only member of the
Group of Seven The Group of Seven (G7) is an intergovernmental political forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States; additionally, the European Union (EU) is a "non-enumerated member". It is official ...
based in western Canada. He worked almost exclusively in Manitoba, where he captured the essence of the prairie in his art. Although he accepted the Group of Seven’s invitation to become a member in 1932, FitzGerald was less concerned than the rest of the group with the promotion of a unified Canadian identity. Instead he explored his surroundings, delving deeply into the forces he felt animated and united nature in order to make “the picture a living thing.” His landscapes and still lifes were drawn from his immediate surroundings—the view of the back lane outside his house; a potted plant on the windowsill. His style grew more spare and abstract over his career. His body work includes painting in oil and watercolour, drawing, printmaking and sculpture.


Career

L. L. FitzGerald was born in
Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
on March 17, 1890, to Lionel Henry FitzGerald and Belle (Hicks) FitzGerald. His father, L. H. FitzGerald, was of Irish descent, born in the
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and raised in
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
. He was employed as a bank messenger and sometimes dealt in real estate. His mother's family had left
Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
shire for Canada, eventually settling on a farm in the Pembina Hills near
Snowflake, Manitoba Snowflake is a small community in the Municipality of Pembina in Manitoba, Canada near the Canada–United States border. It is the birthplace of ice hockey player Justin Falk, and was the first ecclesiastical posting for the sixth Bishop of Cal ...
. As a boy, FitzGerald spent the summer vacation months on his grandmother's farm where he and his older brother were free to explore the woods and prairies. A teacher introduced him to the masterworks through Perry Picture reproductions, and he also took pleasure in drawing exercises from popular art coursebooks. FitzGerald left school at 14, with a Grade Eight education. This was not unusual at that time for families who did not expect to send their child to university. He worked first as an office boy, then was employed as a clerk for various businesses. He found it was not how he wanted to spend his life, saying
After leaving school I worked in a wholesale drug office and finding the job not quite satisfying I felt the first real urge to draw so I got some drawing paper, a pencil and eraser and started work. I had liked the drawing period at school and had learned a little of how to begin working, meagre as it was. One of the first efforts, out of doors, was the drawing of a large elm tree and I remember a friend and I making great preparations and walking a long distance to find a subject that appealed to us. I think, perhaps the walk into the country held as much fascination for us as the work.
In his spare time, FitzGerald began to draw and paint regularly. He used
John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and politi ...
's ''Elements of Drawing'' (1857) as a guide for his self-directed study. He signed up for a winter of evening classes at the A. S. Kesthelyi School of Fine Art. He remarked in later years that "I am still wondering how it was possible to find out so much in so short a time".' In 1912, FitzGerald eloped with trained soprano Felicia Wright (1883–1962). They had two children: a son Edward in 1915, and a daughter Patricia in 1919. After their marriage, FitzGerald determined to work as an artist while taking on a variety of jobs to support himself and his family. He arranged window displays, did free-lance interior decorating and painted theatre backdrops. His artistic work met with some success. In 1913, he exhibited at the
Royal Canadian Academy The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) is a Canadian arts-related organization that was founded in 1880. History 1880 to 1890 The title of Royal Canadian Academy of Arts was received from Queen Victoria on 16 July 1880. The Governor General ...
. In 1915, FitzGerald began applying Impressionist concepts to his work, adopting broken dabs of colour to suggest form, depth and the intense atmospheric light typical of the prairies. In 1918, his painting, ''Late Fall, Manitoba'' was purchased by the
National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the l ...
and in 1921 he received his first solo exhibition, at the
Winnipeg Art Gallery The Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG) is an art museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Its permanent collection includes over 24,000 works from Canadian, Indigenous Canadian, and international artists. The museum also holds the world's largest collect ...
. He spent the winter of 1921–1922 at the
Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may stu ...
in
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and developed what would become his mature, Precisionist style. In 1929, in the chaos of the
Wall Street Crash of 1929 The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange colla ...
, FitzGerald became the principal of the Winnipeg School of Art. The position inspired him to travel more widely, researching programs throughout North America. He was particularly struck by the works of
Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th-century conception of artistic endeavour to a ...
, which had just been donated to the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
in the Havemeyer bequest. In 1930, FitzGerald exhibited his work with the
Group of Seven The Group of Seven (G7) is an intergovernmental political forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States; additionally, the European Union (EU) is a "non-enumerated member". It is official ...
in two shows. The Group of Seven invited him to join their group in 1932, after the death of
J. E. H. MacDonald James Edward Hervey MacDonald (1873–1932) was an English-Canadian artist, best known as a member of the Group of Seven who asserted a distinct national identity combined with a common heritage stemming from early modernism in Europe in the ear ...
. He was chosen unanimously, but only exhibited as a member once before they disbanded and reformed as the
Canadian Group of Painters The Canadian Group of Painters (CGP) was a collective of 28 painters from across Canada who came together as a group in 1933. Formation The Canadian Group of Painters succeeded the disbanded Group of Seven, whose paintings of the Canadian wilde ...
, of which he was a founding member. His most significant work, ''Doc Snyder's House,'' was completed in 1931. FitzGerald worked slowly and meticulously, always seeking balance between the geometry and natural elements of his work. ''Doc Snyder,'' in particular "represents two winters, including two full weeks each Christmas vacation as well as all weekends." He always sought to create harmonious, unified canvases. For FitzGerald, the formal relationships between lines, colours, and shapes were more important to the life of the paintings than subject matter. Its realistic shading of the tree trunks and quiet nature is indicative of his training in New York.
It seems impossible for the artist to attain any height without sacrificing at least a little of the ordinary necessities, not to mention the loss of ordinary social contact, that are so essential to others. The desire to create something. fills the artist's mind, and to do this requires time for active work and quiet thought


Death

FitzGerald died in Winnipeg 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 may tr ...
on August 5, 1956. His ashes were spread in a field in
Snowflake, Manitoba Snowflake is a small community in the Municipality of Pembina in Manitoba, Canada near the Canada–United States border. It is the birthplace of ice hockey player Justin Falk, and was the first ecclesiastical posting for the sixth Bishop of Cal ...
.


Teaching

In 1924, FitzGerald began teaching at the Winnipeg School of Art. He was promoted to principal of the school in 1929, a position he held until 1947.


Honours

The University of Manitoba recognized FitzGerald's contributions with an honorary doctorate in 1952. The Winnipeg School of Art was renamed the School of Art when it affiliated with the
University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Royal Canadian Mint }) is the mint of Canada and a Crown corporation, operating under the ''Royal Canadian Mint Act''. The shares of the Mint are held in trust for the Crown in right of Canada. The Mint produces all of Canada's circulation coins, and manufactures ...
produced a gold coin based on FitzGerald's 1929 work ''Houses''. In 2004, FitzGerald was inducted into the Winnipeg Citizens Hall of Fame for his contributions to the arts.


References


Further reading

* Harper, Russell. ''Painting in Canada: A History 2nd ed.'' Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1981. *Parke-Taylor, Michael.
Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald: Life & Work
'. Toronto: Art Canada Institute, 2017. *
* {{DEFAULTSORT:FitzGerald, LeMoine 1890 births 1956 deaths 20th-century Canadian painters Canadian male painters Artists from Winnipeg Canadian landscape painters Canadian Impressionist painters 20th-century Canadian male artists