James T. Valliere, a well-known Art Historian and Astrologer within those fields, died peacefully with his two sons by his side at South County Hospital. Jim has drifted on to his next journey.

Jim was the only child of Anna Priestas Valliere and Ernest Joseph Valliere. He was born on 11/23/1940 and lived in Concord, New Hampshire, his entire childhood. As a child, Jim began to collect stamps and gained a love for Sport cars. While in High School, Jim was on the cross-country ski team, and the football team and the drama club.

After learning about Marlboro College in Vermont and being intrigued with its mission to “Teach Students to Think”, Jim attended the college for four years. Jim earned a B.A. in American studies where he concentrated in art, economic, and intellectual history from 1930-1960. He then gained a M.A. in history from the University of New Hampshire, where he focused on the ideas driving American culture after WWII. His graduate studies also included research on Jackson Pollock’s early drawings after Renaissance masterworks.

While in graduate school, Jim became the first researcher to work with Lee Krasner, conducting the foundational research for the Jackson Pollock catalogue raisonné and organizing Pollock’s papers from 1963–1965. During that time, Jim interviewed Pollock’s contemporaries. This research was published several times over the years and is now stored in the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art.

On December 20, 1965, Jim was officially granted Conscientious Objector (CO) status due to his opposition to war. As a CO, he was required to complete alternative civilian service. He fulfilled his national obligation by working for two years at a welfare office in New York City, contributing directly to the community’s health and safety.

In the late 60’s, Jim resided in Greenwich Village, New York City. Jim’s home was a focal point for progressive new movements and ideas, whether political, artistic, or cultural. Jim witnessed firsthand from his Christopher Street apartment window the Stonewall Rebellion.

In the 1970s, Jim turned to Halifax, Vermont. He soon met and married Marsha Hogg. Jim and Marsha both studied and practiced astrology. In 1974, they expanded their family with the birth of their son Marcel. Five years later, their second son René was born. Jim and Marsha raised their sons in Brattleboro, Vermont. During that time, Jim worked with Vermont National Bank to establish the Socially Responsible Banking Fund. After Jim and Marsha divorced, Jim moved to Cape Cod on another chapter of his journey.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Jim lived with his partner and kindred spirit Linda Lee Sherrill. Jim served as director of the Chandler Gallery in Provincetown, where he organized an exhibition of the drawings of Edward Hopper. Jim continued to author the “Valliere’s Natural Cycles Almanac” which Astrolabe published from 1981 to 1990 and still retails. This unique yearly reference work provides times each day when planets cross the horizon and meridian of localities in the US. During this time (and earlier), Jim researched and collected American Christmas Seal campaigns from 1930 to 1950. This collection, featuring Rockwell Kent’s 1939 Christmas Seal design, has been exhibited in Provincetown and the Cape Cod Museum of Art. The collection has also been featured in Americana Magazine. Jim’s research on Kent was published in The Kent Collector.

In the mid-90s, Jim became Publisher of Body, Mind and Spirit Magazine based in Providence, Rhode Island. Jim resurrected the financially floundering magazine. During this time, Jim started formally practicing Transcendental Meditation.

From the turn of the century through 2010, Jim shared a life of laughter and love with Belinda Brittcliffe. During this time, he refocused his energy on his Christmas Seal research and his lifelong work in astrology. He treated games of chance as a practical laboratory, using them to rigorously test his theories on timing and successful outcomes. This empirical approach informed his broader research into identifying the optimal days and hours of the week for both professional endeavor and personal rest.

In 2011, Jim moved to Narragansett, where he lived out the remainder of his life. He continued multiple projects, linked to his expertise in art history, astrology, and holistic lifestyle.

Jim is survived by his children: Marcel Valliere and partner Erika Magyar of Rockland, ME; René Kaczka-Valliere and wife Jeanne Kaczka-Valliere of Charlotte, VT whose daughters are: Veronica Valliere, Jameica Valliere and Trevina Valliere. He also leaves behind dear friends John Zahner, Anne Riccitelli, Belinda Brittcliffe, Linda Sherrill, Richard Hodgson, and Marsha Hogg Hoecker and Henry Hoecker.

The family would like to express their deepest gratitude and sincere thanks to the outstanding staff at South County Hospital for Jim’s wonderful care in his final days and the comforting support given to the family.

Donations in honor of James T. Valliere may be sent to Friends of the Narragansett Library, 25 Pier Market Pl, Narragansett, RI 02882 or to URI Art Gallery, Fine Arts Center, 105 Upper College Rd, Kingston, RI 02881.

Arrangements are in the care of Avery-Storti Funeral Home, 88 Columbia St. Wakefield, RI 02879. A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, 9/26/2026 in Narragansett, RI. Time and location to follow.