Isaac Henry Caliga (1857-1934)

Isaac Henry Caliga was born in Auburn, Indiana, in 1857. As a young man, he moved to Boston and worked at a dry goods store, painting only in his spare time. A chance encounter with artist Marcus Waterman in a Boston restaurant inspired him to pursue his art as a profession, and he traveled abroad to Munich in 1879 to study under William Lindenschmidt, remaining there for several years and earning numerous medals. 

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Caliga returned to Boston by 1883 and joined the art circles of the time, exhibiting his work at the Boston Art Club from 1885 to 1909, the National Academy of Design from 1884 to 1889 and at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts from 1884 to 1925. He also exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C., the Art Institute of Chicago, and with the Society of Independent Artists. His figural paintings and interior compositions were well received, and examples of his portrait work can be found in the New England Historic Genealogical Society and at the Massachusetts State House.  After the turn of the century, Caliga maintained a studio in Salem, Massachusetts, and later moved to Provincetown, becoming one of the earliest painters to work in that art colony. He died in Provincetown in 1934.