Cody Thomas

ARE 6049 – History of Teaching Art

Great Moments in Art Education

Arthur Wesley Dow

Arthur Wesley Dow was born on April 6, 1857, in Ipswich, Massachusetts. (Arthur

Wesley Dow, 2021) Dow was an author, writer, printmaker, and teacher well-respected within

his community. (Battis) He taught himself about art and became the most influential teacher in

the 1800s and the innovation of his stylized work. (Battis) Along with his teachings focusing on

the Japanese principles of art, he also contributed to the Arts and Crafts Movement. Lastly, he

contributed two books that left marks in art education: Composition and the Theory and Practice

of Teaching Art. (Stankiewicz, 2001, p. 89) 

After high school, Dow would sketch drawings of historic homes within his community

around 1880 before starting any formal training in the arts. He submitted his pictures to his local

newspaper, Antiquarian Papers. (Arthur Wesley Dow, 2021) Teaching elementary school for

five years, he followed his instincts and wanted to pursue art. (Stankiewicz, 2001, p. 89) First

studying with Anna K. Freeland out of Worcester for a year, he found himself apprenticing in

Boston with painter James M. Stone. He eventually met his wife here, Minnie Pearson; they

married in 1893. Shortly after marriage, he and his wife moved to Paris. (Arthur Wesley Dow,

2021)

Paris, 1884, Dow worked alongside Jules Lefebvre and Gustave Boulanger at the

Académie Julian. He met his life-long friend, American Impressionist painter Henry Rodman

Kenyon from Rhode Island while on this trip. The two would become influential artists of one

another. (Gorlinski) While studying, he took evening classes at École Nationale des Arts
Décoratifs. While pursuing his art, he spent summers at Pont-Aven, an artist’s colony located in

Brittany. In 1889, Dow won honorable mention at the Universal Exposition for exhibiting pieces

of his work, including Au Soir, that portrayed a landscape he had painted earlier in 1888. (Arthur

Wesley Dow, 2021) It was not until his return home in 1889 to Massachusetts that he found his

newly discovered passion – Japanese art. (Stankiewicz, 2001, p.89)

Returning to Boston, Dow taught for many years until he discovered the work of the

famous Japanese artist Hokusai. Dow got his interest from Hokusai – mainly his use of ukiyo-e

(floating world) (Battis) woodblock prints. At the Boston Public Library, Dow studied Hokusai’s

work endlessly. While researching at the Museum of Fine Art, Dow bonded with Ernest F.

Fenollosa, the Asain art curator. (Arthur Wesley Dow, 2021) With the study of landscapes and

composition as his main interest (Stankiewicz, 2001, p. 89), Dow began to create his work from

the same woodblocks as Hokusai. Using what he has learned from his ongoing research from

Hokusai and Fenollosa, Dow merged the aesthetics of both Eastern and Western cultures.

(Arthur Wesley Dow, 2021)   

The subject matter that made up most of Dow’s work was his home – Boston. The north

shores were subjects in many woodblock prints. (Arthur Wesley Dow, 2021) A traditional ukiyo-

e print consists of three artists: the painter, the carver, and the printer. One can see the image of

the steps of the blocks. (G., 2016) Dow’s method was slightly different. Instead of three artists

(artist then the assistants), Dow would do the work of all steps himself from start to finish. He

would eventually teach this same process to his students. As the students completed each step,

Dow encouraged them to execute these processes with great attention to detail and patience.

(Arthur Wesley Dow, 2021) After some time out of the classroom, Dow began teaching again. 
 Opening the Ipswich Summer School of Art in 1891 with his wife allowed him to step

back into art teaching. His school offered many concentrations such as pottery, painting,

photography, textiles, and others. Dow had taught many well-known artists at his school, for

example, Alvin Langdon Coburn, whose interest was pictorialism photography. (Arthur Wesley

Dow, 2021) While the school ran successfully until closing in 1904, Dow became assistant

curator at the Museum of Fine Art in 1893. Louis Prang came across the work of Dow and hired

him to design a woodcut print for the cover of Prang’s magazine, Modern Art. Later that year,

after Ipswich Summer School of Art officially closed, he began teaching at Pratt Institution in

Brooklyn, personally hired by the son of the founder of the institution, Frederic Pratt.

(Stankiewicz, 2001, p. 89) Dow taught Max Weber, the first American Cubist painter

(Gorlinski), and photographer Gertrude Käsebier. (Arthur Wesley Dow, 2021) Louis Prang

insisted that Dow teach his developing theories in composition – as this was Dow’s particular

interest. Dow would then have his work published in Prang’s texts. (Stankiewicz, 2001, p. 89). It

was not until then; Dow wrote and published his first book that would leave his footprint in the

art education world. 

Composition: A Series of Exercises in Art Structure for the Use of Students and

Teachers was published in 1899. (Stankiewicz, 2001, p. 89) This text would become an essential

text for art education. Dow starts his text by bringing up the three elements of design:

line, notan (Japanese concept of mass, shade, and light), and color. (Dow, 2014) These were his

three elements to construct the perfect composition in a piece. (Arthur Wesley Dow, 2021)

“Creating art, according to Dow, was not a matter of imitating or copying; it was rather a matter

of personal expression relaxed through a harmonious composition that was founded in simple

linear forms, notan, and color" (Arthur Wesley Dow, 2021). His breakthrough text would soon
replace Walter Smith’s works and be used in the South Kensington system of American art

education. (Stankiewicz, 2001, p. 89)  

Dow taught and became head of the art department in 1903 at Columbia University

Teachers College. (Historic Ipswich) Here, he was able to share his ideas on composition with

new generations (Stankiewicz, 2001, p. 91). Georgia O’Keeffe attended his summer school

before it closed and again at Columbia. Dow inspired O’Keeffe greatly and directed her towards

abstraction then onto composition. (Arthur Wesley Dow, 2021) O’Keffee spoke fondly of Dow,

“..I had a technique for handling oil and watercolor easily; Dow gave me something to do with

it” (Georgia O’Keeffe Museum). Dow taught more influential artists and spread his aesthetic

principles across the nation. (Battis)

In 1907, Dow became president of the Eastern Art Teachers Association and a director of

the College Art Association until 1913. (Stankiewicz, 2001, p. 89) In 1908, Dow published his

second book, Theory Practice of Teaching Art. This seventy-three-page text outlines the purpose

of teaching art, art language: elements and principles of design, and listing subject matter to

teach to grades kindergarten to high school. (Dow, 1970) Again, Dow’s second text would be a

staple in the art education world. 

Arthur Wesley Dow continued to practice art in many mediums and continued to teach

and hold his position as director in the art department at Columbia University until his death.

Dow continued to travel and have his work in exhibitions. Composition was printed over 20

times and was used as a required text in classrooms until the 1970s. He left behind a legacy as an

artist and art educator teaching many students over his decades of instruction with his

composition theory and principles. He encouraged depicting nature and work with ‘honesty’
which was the goal of the Arts and Crafts Movement. At the age of 65, Dow passed away on

December 13, 1922. (Historic Ipswich)

 References

Arthur Wesley Dow. (2021, December 9). Retrieved January 21, 2022, from

https://www.britannica.com/print/article/1552899

Battis, E. (n.d.). Arthur Wesley dow. Retrieved January 23, 2022, from

https://americanart.si.edu/artist/arthur-wesley-dow-1325

Blumberg, N. (2021, December 9). Arthur Wesley dow. Retrieved January 19, 2022, from

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Arthur-Wesley-Dow

Dow, A. W. (1970, January 01). Theory and practice of teaching art. Retrieved January 22, 2022,

from https://library.si.edu/digital-library/book/theorypracticeo00dowa

Dow, A. W. (2014, April 15). Composition: A Series of Exercises in Art Structure for the use of

Students and Teachers. Retrieved January 22, 2022, from

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/45410/45410-h/45410-h.html

G. (2016, November 7). A guide to Japanese woodblock print. Retrieved January 23, 2022, from

https://japancraft.co.uk/blog/japanese-woodblock-print-guide/

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. (2015, July 06). Georgia o'keeffe: Line, color, composition.

Retrieved January 23, 2022, from https://www.okeeffemuseum.org/installation/georgia-

okeeffe-line-color-composition/

Gorlinski, V. (Ed.). (n.d.). Max Weber. Retrieved January 23, 2022, from

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Max-Weber-American-artist
Historic Ipswich, Says:, R., Says:, G., Says:, R., Says:, C., & Says:, K. (2021, September 14).

Arthur Wesley dow. Retrieved January 20, 2022, from

https://historicipswich.org/2021/02/01/arthur-wesley-dow/

Ronald W. Kenyon 05/26/2017 at 10:17 am, Gordon R. Harris 01/14/2020 at 3:01 pm, & Walt

Post author01/17/2021 at 9:26 am. (2019, April 26). Briefing. Retrieved January 19, 2022,

from http://www.hrkenyon.org/

Stankiewicz, M. A. (2001). We Aim at order and hope for beauty. In Roots of art education

practice (pp. 86-102). Worcester, MA: Davis Publications.