Biography (c. 1823 - 1906)
Header Photo: The Fairy Bower (Detail) by John Anster Fitzgerald
Oil on canvas, 26 x 30.5 cm
Private Collection
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© Estate of John Anster Fitzgerald
John Anster Fitzgerald: Biography >> Gallery >> The Wounded Squirrel Canvas Print >>Victorian Painters Index >> Advertise >> John Anster Fitzgerald Books and Dvds available @ amazon.com
John Anster Fitzgerald ~ Biography
Painter (c. 1823 - 1906)
John Anster Christian Fitzgerald avoided the oft-depicted fantasies of Shakespeare to create his own unique fairy world. In this he proved alwarmingly successful, notably in his numerous variatiions on the theme of the Death of Cock Robin. Fitzgerald seems to have spent much of his time working behind the scenes at the theatre, for he produced a number of illustrations of pantomines for special numbers of the Illustrated London News in the 1850s and 1860s, some of which are elaborate double-page spreads. His regular contact with the limelights appears to have affected his works, which are painted with brilliant intensity in vivid colours and dramatic chiaroscuro.
His most memorable paintings are reminiscent of the works of Pieter Brueghel and Hieronymus Bosch. Prints after Bosch were widely available in the mid-nineteenth century and are known to have been collected by artists. Fitzgerald's Fairies in a Bird's Nest, which is shown in a most unusual frame made of twigs, portrays many weird, Bosch-like mini-monsters.
He was a loner, one of those Victorian gentleman whose main domicile was their club, in his case the Savage Club. Other members rememebered him after his death only for his imitations of long-dead actors such as Kemble, Kean and Macready.
His commitment to fairy painting led to him being known as 'Fairy Fitzgerald'...He exhibited no fewer than 196 works at the Royal Academy and the British Institution over the years. Titles included: The Pipe Dream, The Stuff That Dreams are Made of and The Captive Dreamer. He may have been familiar with the opium dens which, with chloral and laudanum, represented the Victorian drug scene.
Source: Victorian Painting
Further Reading: Fairies in Victorian Art
John Anster Fitzgerald ~ Gallery
John Anster Fitzgerald
Titania and the Changeling; Scene from 'A Midsummer Nights Dream'
John Anster Fitzgerald Fine Art Prints @ amazon.com (direct link)
© Estate of John Anster Fitzgerald
John Anster Fitzgerald
Fairy Hordes Attacking a Bat
John Anster Fitzgerald Fine Art Prints @ amazon.com (direct link)
© Estate of John Anster Fitzgerald
John Anster Fitzgerald
The Stuff that Dreams are Made Of
John Anster Fitzgerald Fine Art Prints @ amazon.com (direct link)
© Estate of John Anster Fitzgerald
John Anster Fitzgerald
The Wounded Squirrel
John Anster Fitzgerald Fine Art Prints @ amazon.com (direct link)
© Estate of John Anster Fitzgerald
John Anster Fitzgerald
The Fairies Banquet
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© Estate of John Anster Fitzgerald
John Anster Fitzgerald
Fairies with Birds
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© Estate of John Anster Fitzgerald
John Anster Fitzgerald
Fairy Lovers in a Bird's Nest
John Anster Fitzgerald Fine Art Prints @ amazon.com (direct link)
© Estate of John Anster Fitzgerald
John Anster Fitzgerald
Fairyland
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© Estate of John Anster Fitzgerald
John Anster Fitzgerald
The Painter's Dream
John Anster Fitzgerald Fine Art Prints @ amazon.com (direct link)
© Estate of John Anster Fitzgerald
John Anster Fitzgerald
The Captive Robin
John Anster Fitzgerald Fine Art Prints @ amazon.com (direct link)
© Estate of John Anster Fitzgerald
John Anster Fitzgerald
The Captive Dreamer
John Anster Fitzgerald Fine Art Prints @ amazon.com (direct link)
© Estate of John Anster Fitzgerald
John Anster Fitzgerald
The Concert
John Anster Fitzgerald Fine Art Prints @ amazon.com (direct link)
© Estate of John Anster Fitzgerald
Links
John Anster Fitzgerald: Biography >> Gallery >> The Wounded Squirrel Canvas Print >>Victorian Painters Index >> Advertise >> John Anster Fitzgerald Books and Dvds available @ amazon.com
