James FitzGerald (artist)

James Herbert FitzGerald (1910–1973)^[1] was an American sculptor from Seattle, Washington. He received a degree in architecture at University of Washington and worked at Spokane Art Center.^[2] He has been called "[one] of the Pacific Northwest's preeminent artists of [his] period",^[3] and "among the most innovative modern artists active in the Pacific Northwest."^[4]

He was born and raised in Seattle, graduating from the University of Washington in 1935. FitzGerald went on to study at Yale University in 1938, where he received a Carnegie Graduate Fellowship, and at the Kansas City Art Institute.^[5] He created works for the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP) and the Department of Justice in the 1930s with Boardman Robinson; and worked on other Works Progress Administration art programs in Washington state.^[2] While he also studied as a painter, FitzGerald switched primarily to bronze sculpture in 1959 and became a well-known fountain designer. He established his own foundry in 1964.^[5]

FitzGerald married Margaret Tomkins, a painter, and had three children.^[5][6]

Selected works

• Department of Justice murals (with Boardman Robinson)^[2]
• Bas relief panels at the east portals of the Mount Baker Tunnel, Seattle,^[7] a designated Seattle landmark
• Waterfront Fountain, Waterfront Park, Seattle^[8][9]
• Centennial Fountain, Marina Park, Kirkland, Washington^[10]
• Fountain of the Northwest, Intiman Theatre at Seattle Center^[11]
• Tile mosaic, Washington State Library, Washington State Capitol campus, Olympia, Washington^[3]
• Fountain of Freedom (aka Scudder Plaza Fountain), Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University^[12][13][14]
• Rain Forest, as part of the Western Washington University Public Sculpture Collection