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John Edward Costigan Art

American, 1888-1972
An American Painter Compositional painter of figures and country animals; watercolor painter Costigan was a largely self-taught artist. He moved from Providence, Rhode Island to New York City as an orphaned teenager in 1904 to work for a commercial poster company. It was here that he learned the rudiments of drawing and painting, skills he furthered with informal study at New York's Kit Kat Club, a popular artists' hangout. Costigan achieved national fame as a painter and printmaker in the1920s and 30s. He won numerous prestigious awards and, despite his lack of formal artistic training, was elected a full member of the National Academy of Design. In 1937 the Smithsonian Institution held a one-person exhibition of his graphic works. Famed American printmaker John Taylor Arms praised Costigan as "a brilliant etcher, particularly noted for his interpretation of life on the American farmstead." Today prints by Costigan can be found in private and public collections around the nation, including the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress in Washington, which owns twenty-two. The Swope exhibition is the largest devoted to Costigan's work since the late 1960s. Many of the forty-five prints in the exhibition are from the Swope's own extensive holdings of Costigan's works. Other are being lent by private collectors from around the country.
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"Barnyard Winter" John Edward Costigan, Snowy Landscape, American Artist
"Barnyard Winter" John Edward Costigan, Snowy Landscape, American Artist

"Barnyard Winter" John Edward Costigan, Snowy Landscape, American Artist

By John Edward Costigan

Located in New York, NY

John Edward Costigan Barnyard Winter, 1922 Signed dated lower right Oil on canvas 25 x 30 inches John Costigan was a self-taught painter and trained printer distinguished by his im...

Category

1920s American Impressionist John Edward Costigan Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

John Edward Costigan Painting, circa 1950's - Carnival
John Edward Costigan Painting, circa 1950's - Carnival

John Edward Costigan Painting, circa 1950's - Carnival

By John Edward Costigan

Located in Phoenix, AZ

John Costigan (1888-1972) oil on canvas, circa: 1950s. In excellent condition. Exciting Expressionist Painting of a lively Carnival Scene. Signed lower right: ''J.E. Costigan", Title...

Category

Mid-20th Century John Edward Costigan Art

Materials

Paint

Woman and Child
Woman and Child

Woman and Child

By John Edward Costigan

Located in Sheffield, MA

John Edward Costigan, N.A. American, 1888-1972 Woman and Child Oil on canvas Signed ‘J.E. Costigan N.A.’ lower left 24 by 30 in. W/frame 32 by 38 in. John Costigan was born of Irish-American parents in Providence, Rhode Island, February 29, 1888. He was a cousin of the noted American showman, George M. Cohan, whose parents brought the young Costigan to New York City and was instrumental in starting him on a career in the visual arts. They were less successful in encouraging him to pursue formal studies at the Art Students League (where, however, he later taught) than in exposing him to the commercial art world through the job they had gotten him with the New York lithographing firm that made their theatrical posters. At the H. C. Miner Lithographing Company, Costigan worked his way up from his entry job as a pressroom helper, through various apprenticeships, to the position of sketch artist. In the latter capacity he was an uncredited designer of posters for the Ziegfeld Follies and for numerous silent films. Meanwhile, he had supplemented his very meager formal studies in the fine arts with a self-teaching discipline that led to his first professional recognition in 1920 with the receipt of prizes for an oil painting and watercolor in separate New York exhibitions. A year earlier, Costigan had wed professional model Ida Blessin, with whom he established residence and began raising a family in the sleepy little rural New York hamlet of Orangeburg, the setting for the many idyllic farm landscapes and wood interiors with which he was to become identified in a career that would span half a century. John Costigan’s first national recognition came in 1922 with his winning of the coveted Peterson Purchase prize of the Art Institute of Chicago for an oil on canvas, “Sheep at the Brook.” It marked the start of an unbroken winning streak that would gain him at least one important prize per year for the remainder of the decade. The nation’s art journalists and critics began to take notice, making him the recurring subject of newspaper features and magazine articles. The eminent author and critic Edgar Holger Cahill was just a fledgling reporter when he wrote his first feature, “John Costigan Carries the Flame,” for Shadowland Magazine in 1922. Costigan had his first one-man show of paintings at the Rehn Gallery on New York’s 5th Avenue in November, 1924, to be followed less than three years later by another at the Art Institute of Chicago. In addition, Costigan’s work has been—and continues to be included, side-by-side with that of some of America’s most high-profile artists, in museum and gallery exhibitions throughout the country. His renown had peaked in the early 1930s, by which time his work had been honored with nearly every major award then being bestowed in the fine arts and had been acquired for the permanent collections of several prestigious American museums, including New York’s Metropolitan (which only recently, in 1997, deaccessioned his “Wood Interior,” acquired in 1934). Although Costigan’s celebrity had ebbed by the late 1930s, the Smithsonian Institution saw fit in 1937 to host an exhibition exclusively of his etchings. And, in 1941, the Corcoran Gallery (also Washington, D.C.) similarly honored him for his watercolors. (Another Washington institution, the Library of Congress, today includes 22 Costigan etchings and lithographs in its permanent print collection.) During World War II, Costigan returned briefly to illustrating, mainly for Bluebook, a men’s pulp adventure magazine. A gradual revival of interest in his more serious work began at the end of the war, culminating in 1968 with the mounting of a 50-year Costigan retrospective at the Paine Art Center and Arboretum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Oils, watercolors and prints were borrowed from museums and private collections throughout the country, and the exhibition was subsequently toured nationally by the Smithsonian Institution. John Costigan died of pneumonia in Nyack, NY, August 5, 1972, just months after receiving his final prestigious award —the Benjamin West Clinedinst Medal of the Artist’s Fellowship, Inc., presented in general recognition of his “...achievement of exceptional artistic merit...” in the various media he had mastered in the course of his career. This painting depicts one of the artist's favorite themes --the farm family bathing...

Category

1940s Post-Impressionist John Edward Costigan Art

Materials

Oil

Bathers
Bathers

Bathers

By John Edward Costigan

Located in Sheffield, MA

John Edward Costigan, N.A. American, 1888-1972 Bathers Oil on canvas Signed ‘J.E. Costigan N.A.’ lower left 20 by 24 in. W/frame 26 by 30 in. John Costigan was born of Irish-American parents in Providence, Rhode Island, February 29, 1888. He was a cousin of the noted American showman, George M. Cohan, whose parents brought the young Costigan to New York City and was instrumental in starting him on a career in the visual arts. They were less successful in encouraging him to pursue formal studies at the Art Students League (where, however, he later taught) than in exposing him to the commercial art world through the job they had gotten him with the New York lithographing firm that made their theatrical posters. At the H. C. Miner Lithographing Company, Costigan worked his way up from his entry job as a pressroom helper, through various apprenticeships, to the position of sketch artist. In the latter capacity he was an uncredited designer of posters for the Ziegfeld Follies and for numerous silent films. Meanwhile, he had supplemented his very meager formal studies in the fine arts with a self-teaching discipline that led to his first professional recognition in 1920 with the receipt of prizes for an oil painting and watercolor in separate New York exhibitions. A year earlier, Costigan had wed professional model Ida Blessin, with whom he established residence and began raising a family in the sleepy little rural New York hamlet of Orangeburg, the setting for the many idyllic farm landscapes and wood interiors with which he was to become identified in a career that would span half a century. John Costigan’s first national recognition came in 1922 with his winning of the coveted Peterson Purchase prize of the Art Institute of Chicago for an oil on canvas, “Sheep at the Brook.” It marked the start of an unbroken winning streak that would gain him at least one important prize per year for the remainder of the decade. The nation’s art journalists and critics began to take notice, making him the recurring subject of newspaper features and magazine articles. The eminent author and critic Edgar Holger Cahill was just a fledgling reporter when he wrote his first feature, “John Costigan Carries the Flame,” for Shadowland Magazine in 1922. Costigan had his first one-man show of paintings at the Rehn Gallery on New York’s 5th Avenue in November, 1924, to be followed less than three years later by another at the Art Institute of Chicago. In addition, Costigan’s work has been—and continues to be included, side-by-side with that of some of America’s most high-profile artists, in museum and gallery exhibitions throughout the country. His renown had peaked in the early 1930s, by which time his work had been honored with nearly every major award then being bestowed in the fine arts and had been acquired for the permanent collections of several prestigious American museums, including New York’s Metropolitan (which only recently, in 1997, deaccessioned his “Wood Interior,” acquired in 1934). Although Costigan’s celebrity had ebbed by the late 1930s, the Smithsonian Institution saw fit in 1937 to host an exhibition exclusively of his etchings. And, in 1941, the Corcoran Gallery (also Washington, D.C.) similarly honored him for his watercolors. (Another Washington institution, the Library of Congress, today includes 22 Costigan etchings and lithographs in its permanent print collection.) During World War II, Costigan returned briefly to illustrating, mainly for Bluebook, a men’s pulp adventure magazine. A gradual revival of interest in his more serious work began at the end of the war, culminating in 1968 with the mounting of a 50-year Costigan retrospective at the Paine Art Center and Arboretum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Oils, watercolors and prints were borrowed from museums and private collections throughout the country, and the exhibition was subsequently toured nationally by the Smithsonian Institution. John Costigan died of pneumonia in Nyack, NY, August 5, 1972, just months after receiving his final prestigious award —the Benjamin West Clinedinst Medal of the Artist’s Fellowship, Inc., presented in general recognition of his “...achievement of exceptional artistic merit...” in the various media he had mastered in the course of his career. This painting depicts one of the artist's favorite themes --the farm family bathing...

Category

1950s Post-Impressionist John Edward Costigan Art

Materials

Oil

Fisherman Three  1939 original signed etching by John E. Costigan
Fisherman Three  1939 original signed etching by John E. Costigan

Fisherman Three 1939 original signed etching by John E. Costigan

By John Edward Costigan

Located in Paonia, CO

Fisherman Three is an original 1939 signed etching by the American artist John E. Costigan ( 1888-1972 ) a self-taught painter and printmaker. The locale for Costigan...

Category

Mid-20th Century Other Art Style John Edward Costigan Art

Materials

Etching

Group of Workers
Group of Workers

Group of Workers

By John Edward Costigan

Located in San Francisco, CA

This artwork titled "Group of Workers" 1943, is an original lithograph on paper by noted American artist John Edward Costigan, 1888-1972. It is hand signed and titled in pencil by th...

Category

Mid-20th Century Realist John Edward Costigan Art

Materials

Lithograph

"Bathers" by John E. Costigan, Original Limited Edition Signed Etching
"Bathers" by John E. Costigan, Original Limited Edition Signed Etching

"Bathers" by John E. Costigan, Original Limited Edition Signed Etching

By John Edward Costigan

Located in New York, NY

This original, limited edition etching, was realized by the esteemed American artist John E. Costigan, circa 1930. He is represented in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum, th...

Category

1930s American Art Deco Vintage John Edward Costigan Art

Materials

Paper

Bathing Group
Bathing Group

Bathing Group

By John Edward Costigan

Located in Sheffield, MA

John Edward Costigan American, 1888-1972 Bathers Oil on canvas 20 by 24 in, w/ frame 26 by 30 in Signed "J.E. Costigan N.A." lower left John Costigan was born of Irish-American par...

Category

Mid-20th Century Impressionist John Edward Costigan Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"When Day is Done, " an Original Etching signed by John Edward Costigan
"When Day is Done, " an Original Etching signed by John Edward Costigan

"When Day is Done, " an Original Etching signed by John Edward Costigan

By John Edward Costigan

Located in Milwaukee, WI

"When Day is Done" is an original etching and aquatint signed lower right in pencil by the artist John Edward Costigan. It depicts a man and a woman with their young child at the end...

Category

1930s Post-Impressionist John Edward Costigan Art

Materials

Etching, Aquatint

Bathing Group
Bathing Group

Bathing Group

By John Edward Costigan

Located in Sheffield, MA

John Edward Costigan American, 1888-1972 Bathing Group Oil on canvas board 12 by 16 in, w/ frame 19 by 23 in Signed ‘J.E. Costigan N.A.’ lower left John Costigan was born of Irish-...

Category

Mid-20th Century Modern John Edward Costigan Art

Materials

Oil

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Previously Available Items
Cutting Foddor original 1938 etching by John Costigan
Cutting Foddor original 1938 etching by John Costigan

Cutting Foddor original 1938 etching by John Costigan

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Located in Paonia, CO

Cutting Fodder, also known as Family in the Field, is an original signed 1938 etching by the American artist John E. Costigan ( 1888-1972 )a self-taught painter and printmaker. ...

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1950s Post-Impressionist John Edward Costigan Art

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Mid Century Modern Framed Oil Painting Canvas by John E. Costigan The Bathers
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"Bathing Group" Painting by John Edward Costigan

"Bathing Group" Painting by John Edward Costigan

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John Edward Costigan, N.A. American, 1888-1972. Bathing Group. Oil on canvas board. Signed ‘J.E. Costigan N.A.’ lower left. Measures: 12 by 16 in. With ...

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John Edward Costigan art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic John Edward Costigan art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by John Edward Costigan in etching, oil paint, paint and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the Post-Impressionist style. Not every interior allows for large John Edward Costigan art, so small editions measuring 15 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Charles Picart le Doux, Henri Riviere, and Edwin Georgi. John Edward Costigan art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $600 and tops out at $9,850, while the average work can sell for $2,100.

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