Charles Joseph Fiscus

Following the Civil War, Indianapolis continued to expand under the governorships of Conrad Baker (1817-1885) and Thomas Andrews Hendricks (1819-1885). Native Hoosiers James Farrington Gookins (1840-1904) and John Washington Love (1850-1880) were both accomplished artists who had trained professional both domestically and in Europe. By 1877, the two men were in Indianapolis and shared a vision of making the growing city a western art hub. To help realize their vision, Gookins and Love rented the third floor of what was then known as the Fletcher & Sharpe Block, on the southwest corner of Washington and Pennsylvania Streets. On October 15, 1877, Gookins and Love opened the doors to the Indiana School of Art (ISA).[4]  For $10 per month students were promised, “Neither pains nor expense spared to give pupils the most thorough and practical knowledge of principals and methods of art work”.[5]  C. J. Fiscus became one of the early students at the ISA where he could take courses in drawing: freehand, perspective, and artistic anatomy from Love and courses in painting: figure, landscape, and decorative painting in oil and watercolor from Gookins in the eleven rooms of the school.[6]  Fiscus learned artistic techniques alongside other talented students such as William Forsyth (1854–1935), who would later gain fame as one-fifth of the Hoosier Group of artists. Fiscus thrived at the institution, "Charles Fiscus was among the most talented pupils of this early school. He was marked "first" by the master more often than not and is still remembered by his fellow-students as having unusual ability".[7]

A Portrait of C.J. Fiscus at work by friend and fellow artist, Richard Buckner Gruelle

Being a student at the ISA allowed C.J. Fiscus to hone his skills as an artist and as an exhibitor. After holding two successful three-week public exhibits of faculty and student work, a bigger, bolder exhibit that included works by artists from around the world was planned for the ISA.[8] On May 7, 1878, the newly formed Indiana Art Association (IAA), under the direction of the ISA, opened its First Quarterly Exhibition at the school. Fiscus displayed eight crayon drawings at the show: #247: "Apollo Belvidere" (bust), #248: "Farnese Hercules", #249: "Apollo Belvidere" (Figure), #250: "An Arm", #251: "Study from Life", #252: "Study from Life", #253: "William" (A Life Study), #254: "A Composition", alongside the works of accomplished artists such as Jacob Cox (1810-1892), Otto Sommer (1811-1911), Alfred Thompson Bricher (1837-1908), William Forsyth, and another future one-fifth of the Hoosier Group, Theodore Clement (T.C.) Steele (1847-1926).[9]

As late as 1879, many Hoosiers were still feeling the effects of the Panic of 1873, and the economic depression it triggered.[10]  In short, money was tight and funding for the arts was not a top priority for the citizens of Indianapolis. As a result, the ISA quickly declined. In response, C.J. Fiscus and six other artists: William Forsyth, William Ebbert (dates unknown), Frederick A. Hetherington (1859-1931), Thomas E. Hibben (1859-1915), Charles Nicolai (1856-1942), and Frank Edwin Scott (1863-1929) formed the Bohemian (Bohé) Club and rented courtyard rooms at the Fletcher & Sharpe Block location. The club was a place for artists to socialize and continue honing their artistic skills. Forsyth later wrote of the club, “There were no officers of any kind. It lived up to its name in every way—[We] talked, sang, played cards and pranks, was fused with enthusiasm, and incidentally drew, painted, and etched, and was much given to long excursions into the country where most of its real work was done.”[11] Later that same year, much to the chagrin of the remaining students and faculty, the ISA was forced to permanently close its doors due to lack of funding and waning interest.[12]  

The new decade brought new adventures, challenges, and hardships for C.J. Fiscus. On June 24, 1880, the revered John Love died at only twenty-seven-years-of-age due to inflammation of the stomach.[13]  The Bohé band of brothers: Charles Fiscus, William Forsyth, Thomas Hibben, Charles Nicolai, Frederick Hetherington, and Frank Edwin Scott came together to serve as pallbearers for their former teacher, mentor, and friend.[14]  Whether the result of, or just a coincidence, the demise of John Love seemed to signal an exodus of artists from Indianapolis. In the fall of 1880, T.C Steele, John Ottis Adams (1851-1927), and Samuel Richards (1853-1893) migrated to Germany for continental training. Around the same period, the entrepreneurially minded Gookins left Indianapolis to open a studio in Terre Haute, Indiana. Fiscus chose to follow his teacher and mentor to Terre Haute to continue his artistic studies and to make an excursion to Chicago.[15]  However, Fiscus returned to Indianapolis in a short time to start down his own artistic path.

Back home again in Indianapolis and inspired by the art and entrepreneurship of Gookins, C.J. Fiscus was confident enough in his artistic abilities to hang up his shingle. The 1880 edition of Polk's Indianapolis City Directory listed a new business that year: Fiscus and Scott, artists, located at 69 Fletcher & Sharpe Block.[16]  The business was a joint venture between the nineteen-years-old C.J. Fiscus and his fellow Bohemian, seventeen-years-old Frank Edwin Scott. However, the business was short lived because Scott had applied to the Art Students' League in New York City and was accepted in 1881. Scott went on to Paris in 1882, where he eventually gained notoriety as an artist in Europe before gaining worldwide attention.[17]

Undeterred by his friend's departure, Fiscus carried on alone. Even though there was less competition in Indianapolis, working as an artist without a patron was challenging to state the least; nevertheless, C.J. Fiscus eked out a meager living drawing crayon portraits and selling an occasional sketch over the next three years.[7]  From 1881 to 1884, Polk's Indianapolis City Directory listed Charles J. Fiscus as a solo artist residing at 280 East St. Clair Street.

"The Bachelor Boudoir (Corner of the Studio)" by C.J. Fiscus

As a professional artist, C.J. Fiscus reached his pinnacle in 1883. The National Academy of Design in New York held its prestigious Fifty-Eighth Annual Exhibition from April 2 - May 12, 1883.[18] Fiscus had two pieces in the show: #320: "A Still Life" (priced at $50) hung in the South Gallery and #495: "The Bachelor Boudoir (Corner of the Studio)" (priced at $100) hung in the North-West Gallery. Fiscus shared the spotlight with artists such as Thomas Moran (1837-1926), Henry Bacon (1839-1912), and Harry Chase (1853-1889). As art critic Charles McMeen Kurtz (1855-1909) stated that year, “The Spring exhibition of the National Academy of Design is the representative American annual Art exhibition, and is a fair index to the condition of Art in this country.”[19]

During that same period May Wright Sewall (1844-1920) led a group effort to promote art appreciation and education in Indianapolis. The result was the formation of the Art Association of Indianapolis (AAI) on May 7, 1883. To help achieve their objectives, the AAI held their first international exhibit at the English Hotel, then located on the corner of Circle and Meridian Streets, from November 7–30, 1883.[20]  Thanks to the work of Susan Merrill Ketcham (1841-1930), one of the newly elected directors of the AAI, some of the best American and foreign artists lent their work to help support the cause. C.J. Fiscus was one of those artists. Fiscus prominently displayed two of his watercolor studies from nature alongside the work of artists such as William Merritt (W.M.) Chase (1849-1916), Hamilton Hamilton (1847-1928), Thomas Moran, and T.C. Steele. On the opening day of the exhibition, a reporter for the Indianapolis Journal stated, “The water-color and black-and-white departments are large. The former may be especially mentioned as containing some of the finest specimens from the most noted American artists, and as delightful and attractive work as need be desired.”[21]  On the closing day the Indianapolis News declared the exhibition, "an artistic success as well as a society event of the season".[22]

Winding down a productive and successful professional year, C.J. Fiscus accompanied some of his fellow artists on one of their customary sketching excursions to the country in late 1883. Fiscus spent the entire night working outdoors in the frigid Indiana weather and caught cold. After returning home Fiscus became seriously ill. In his notes art historian Wilbur David Peat (1898-1966) speculated that Fiscus developed pneumonia as a result.[23] At any rate, C.J. Fiscus died an untimely death at his family's home on Wednesday, February 6, 1884. The obituary appeared in the Indianapolis News the afternoon of his death, "FISCUS—Charles J. Fiscus, the young artist, aged 22 years 8 months and 20 days, this morning, 6th last, at 8:30 o’clock. The funeral services will be attended from the family residence, 280 East St. Clair St., Friday morning at 10 o’clock. Friends are invited".[24] C.J. Fiscus was laid to rest on a cold and rainy Indiana winter's day in Crown Hill Cemetery under a modest headstone.[25]  The artist was gone but his work would live on.