Bridges, Fidelia

Fidelia Bridges(May 19, 1834 – May 14, 1923) was an American artist, born in Salem, of the late 19th century, and one of the few women to have a successful career in that period.

She was known for delicately detailed paintings that captured flowers, plants, and birds in their natural settings. Although she began as an oil painter, she later gained a reputation

as an expert in watercolor painting. She was the only woman among a group of seven artists in the early years of the American Watercolor Society.

Some of her work was published as illustrations in books and magazines and on greeting cards.

She was orphaned at the age of fifteen when her mother and father died within months of each other. In 1849, Henry Bridges,a sea captain, fell ill and was taken to Portuguese Macau, where he died in December.

Eliza died in March 1850, just three hours before the news of her husband's death arrived in Salem.

The couple left four children, Eliza, Elizabeth, Fidelia, and Henry. They were living at 100 Essex Street, now known as the Fidelia Bridges Guest House (part of the Hawthorne Hotel), but moved to a more affordable

home on the same street after their parents' death. Fidelia's older sister Eliza was a schoolteacher and became the guardian of her younger siblings.

Fidelia took up drawing during her convalescence from an illness. She became a friend of the artist and art school owner Anne Whitney. After she regained her health, Fidelia

became a live-in mother's helper in the household of William Augustus Brown, a Quaker who had been a Salem ship-holder before moving to Brooklyn, New York, where he became a

successful wholesale produce merchant. The Bridges moved to Brooklyn, too, and in 1854 Eliza established a school there. Eliza died in 1856 of tuberculosis, and Fidelia and her older sister Elizabeth then ran the

school.

Bridges, however, soon abandoned teaching in order to concentrate on her drawing lessons. Inspired by her friend Anne Whitney, she enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia.

By 1862, she had her own studio in downtown Philadelphia. After three years, she moved and established a studio on the top floor of the Browns' house in Brooklyn. After the Civil War, she studied for a year

in Rome.

She eventually became known primarily as a watercolor artist and was able to support herself with her art. Bridges never married but had good friends and relationships all her life.

She moved to Canaan, Connecticut in 1892 and lived in a cottage on a hill, overlooking a stream and with a beautiful flower garden. She led a quiet lifestyle, and occasionally traveled to Europe and New York.

Bridges died following a stroke just a few days before turning eighty-nine, on May 14, 1923. She is buried in Canaan, Connecticut.

See Also

Legendary Locals Curley, Malcolm, p. 32, (photo)

Fidelia Bridges Wikipedia

A Forgotten Salem Master Artist: Fidelia Bridges Salem Patch (Jerome Curley)