# John Kelly Fitzpatrick

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**John Kelly Fitzpatrick** (1888–1953) was a regionalist American painter from [Alabama](/source/Alabama).

## Biography

### Early life

John Kelly Fitzpatrick was born in 1888 in [Wetumpka, Alabama](/source/Wetumpka,_Alabama).[1][2][3][4] His father, Phillips Fitzpatrick (1830–1901), was a physician, and his mother was Jane Lovedy Kelly (1850–1913).[1] His paternal grandfather, [Benjamin Fitzpatrick](/source/Benjamin_Fitzpatrick) (1802–1869), served as the governor of [Alabama](/source/Alabama) from 1841 to 1845.[1]

He attended the Stark University School in Montgomery and went to the [University of Alabama](/source/University_of_Alabama) to study journalism for two years, until he dropped out.[2][3] He then spent a semester at the [Art Institute of Chicago](/source/Art_Institute_of_Chicago) in [Chicago](/source/Chicago), [Illinois](/source/Illinois), but dropped out again.[3] In 1918, he joined the [United States Army](/source/United_States_Army) and served in [France](/source/France) during the [First World War](/source/First_World_War).[1][2][4] In 1929, he spent a few months at the [Académie Julian](/source/Acad%C3%A9mie_Julian) in [Paris](/source/Paris), [France](/source/France).[3][4] 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](/source/Regionalism_(art)) painter, Fitzpatrick is best known for his paintings of rural Alabama, especially his home county of [Elmore County, Alabama](/source/Elmore_County,_Alabama).[1][5] He was inspired by French painters like [Paul Cézanne](/source/Paul_C%C3%A9zanne) (1839–1906), [Vincent van Gogh](/source/Vincent_van_Gogh) (1853–1890), and [Henri Matisse](/source/Henri_Matisse) (1869–1954).[1] In the French tradition, he often painted out in the open, near lakes or creeks in the Alabama countryside.[2]

Together with a group of artists known as the Morningview Painters, Fitzpatrick founded the Alabama Art League in the late 1920s.[2][4] This led to the establishment of the [Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts](/source/Montgomery_Museum_of_Fine_Arts) in [Montgomery, Alabama](/source/Montgomery,_Alabama) in 1930.[2] He sat on its original Board of Trustees and helped develop its permanent collection.[1][2] Some of his work is still exhibited there.[1] He also taught painting and served as director of the Montgomery Museum Art School.[1][6] In 1938 and 1939, he was commissioned by the federal government as part of the [Public Works of Art Project](/source/Public_Works_of_Art_Project) to produce paintings, including [murals](/source/List_of_United_States_post_office_murals#Alabama) inside the newly constructed post offices in the towns of [Ozark, Alabama](/source/Ozark,_Alabama) titled *Early Industry of Dale County* and in [Phenix City, Alabama](/source/Phenix_City,_Alabama) titled *Cotton*.[1][7][8]

In 1933, Fitzpatrick co-founded the [Dixie Art Colony](/source/Dixie_Art_Colony) with Sallie B. Carmichael and her daughter Warree Carmichael LeBron.[1][4][6][9] The idea was to establish an [artist colony](/source/Artist_colony) to paint and train burgeoning artists in the South.[1] From 1937, they met at Poka Hutchi ("gathering of picture writers" in Creek Indian parlance), a small cabin on [Lake Jordan](/source/Jordan_Lake_(Alabama)).[1][2] Later, [Frank W. Applebee](/source/Frank_W._Applebee), the Chair of the School of Art and Architecture at [Auburn University](/source/Auburn_University) and a painter, joined the colony, as did [Genevieve Southerland](/source/Genevieve_Southerland), [Anne Wilson Goldthwaite](/source/Anne_Wilson_Goldthwaite) and [Lamar Dodd](/source/Lamar_Dodd) (1909-1996).[1][2] The colony last met in 1948.[1]

The *John Kelly Fitzpatrick Gallery* is in the City Administration Building in Wetumpka, Alabama.[10] Additionally, some of his paintings can be found in the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts and the [Alabama Department of Archives and History](/source/Alabama_Department_of_Archives_and_History) in Montgomery as well as the [Johnson Collection](/source/Johnson_Collection_(Spartanburg,_South_Carolina)) in [Spartanburg, South Carolina](/source/Spartanburg,_South_Carolina) and the [Ogden Museum of Southern Art](/source/Ogden_Museum_of_Southern_Art) in [New Orleans, Louisiana](/source/New_Orleans,_Louisiana).[1][2][11]

### Death

He died of a [heart attack](/source/Heart_attack) on April 18, 1953.[1] He was buried in the Wetumpka City Cemetery.[1]

## Selected paintings

- *The Sugar Cane Mill* (Montgomery, Alabama: Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, 1933).[1]
- *Monday Morning* (Montgomery, Alabama: Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, 1934).[1]
- *Oat Fields* (Spartanburg, South Carolina: The Johnson Collection, 1936).[2]
- *Jug Factory* (Spartanburg, South Carolina: The Johnson Collection, 1937).[2]
- *Mules to Market* (New Orleans, Louisiana: Ogden Museum of Southern Art, 1937).[11]
- *Harvest* (Spartanburg, South Carolina: The Johnson Collection, 1941).[2]
- *Creek Indian Corn Dance* (Montgomery, Alabama: Alabama Department of Archives and History, 1945).[12]
- *Hillbilly Barn Dance* (Montgomery, Alabama: Alabama Department of Archives and History, 1945).[12]
- *Minuet* (Montgomery, Alabama: Alabama Department of Archives and History, 1947).[12]
- *Swinging on the Grapevine* (Montgomery, Alabama: Alabama Department of Archives and History, 1948).[12]

## 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

1. [Encyclopedia of Alabama](http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1155)

1. [The Johnson Collection](http://thejohnsoncollection.org/john-kelly-fitzpatrick/)

1. [The Charleston Renaissance Gallery](http://www.charlestonrenaissancegallery.com/pages/art/artists/artistsinventorydetail/1/130&description=Full)

1. Rebecca Mark (ed.), Robert C. Vaughan (ed.), *The South*, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004 , p. 58 [\[1\]](https://books.google.com/books?id=2BxUU8m_gmkC&pg=PA58)

1. Joseph M. Flora, Lucinda Hardwick MacKethan, Todd W. Taylor, *The Companion to Southern Literature: Themes, Genres, Places, People, Movements, and Motifs*, Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press, 2012 p. 68 [\[2\]](https://books.google.com/books?id=rl5_5u3tiRkC&pg=PA68)

1. Ted Olson (ed.), *CrossRoads: A Southern Culture Annual*, Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press, 2004, p. 110 [\[3\]](https://books.google.com/books?id=31hZQKGNscoC&pg=PA110)

1. [The Living New Deal](http://livingnewdeal.berkeley.edu/artists/j-kelly-fitzpatrick/) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20140116133210/http://livingnewdeal.berkeley.edu/artists/j-kelly-fitzpatrick/) 2014-01-16 at the Wayback Machine

1. Justin Hamel (21 August 2020). ["Searching for America's 1930s post office murals - a photo essay"](https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/aug/21/picture-essay-america-1930s-post-office-murals). *The Guardian*. Retrieved 21 August 2020.

1. Joe Allen Turner, Jan Wood, *Wetumpka*, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing, 2014, p. 116 [\[4\]](https://books.google.com/books?id=wgVZAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA116)

1. [Wetumpka Chamber of Commerce](https://web.archive.org/web/20081207102151/http://www.wetumpkachamber.com/current_month_events.html)

1. [Ogden Museum of Southern Art](http://www.ogdenmuseum.org/collections/from-artist.html?my_artist_id=6178) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20140116131151/http://www.ogdenmuseum.org/collections/from-artist.html?my_artist_id=6178) 2014-01-16 at the Wayback Machine

1. [Alabama Dept. of Archives and History Digital Collections](https://digital.archives.alabama.gov/digital/collection/photo/search/field/subjec/searchterm/Fitzpatrick,%20Kelly%20(John%20Kelly)/mode/exact)

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