Born in Providence, RI in 1888, John E. Costigan grew up to be a self-taught painter and printer distinguished by his impressionistic style and affinity for bucolic scenes.
Orphaned at a young age, Costigan was taken in by his aunt and uncle, both vaudeville performers. Around the age of 16, Costigan moved to New York City through the assistance of his aunt and uncle, who had obtained
a position for him with the H.C. Miner Lithographing Company. There he produced posters for many theatrical works and learned much about printmaking and design over his 28 years of employment for the company.
Costigan’s formal art instruction was limited, briefly studying under William Merritt Chase and George Bridgman. He stayed committed instead to a studio on 14th Street called the Kit Kat Club, where illustrators
and newspaper artists spent nights sketching from live models in an informal atmosphere. By the age of 30, Costigan had exhibitions in New York as well as Washington D.C.
In 1919, Costigan married sculptor and professional artist’s model Ida Blessin and the couple relocated to Orangeburg, 25 miles outside of the City. Through the 1920s, Costigan gained greater recognition with a number
of exhibitions, including showings at the Art Institute of Chicago, Salmagundi Gallery, and Corcoran Gallery. An influx of awards for his work in oil and watercolor helped secure his notoriety.
Costigan’s body of work across the mediums of oil, watercolor, etching, and lithography provide an extensive exploration of the pastoral, yet also document the realities of the artist’s rural life. Family members
served as models for his scenes, with wife Ida a primary model for the solitary women and motherly figures. His five children, too, and later grandchildren, were influential in providing a basis for many compositions.
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