Cowles Art School (Cowles School of Art) was established in 1883, in a studio building located at 145 Dartmouth Street in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. It was one of the largest

art schools An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, including fine art – especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. Art schools can offer elementary, secondary, post-second ...

in the city and boasted an enrollment of several hundred until it was closed in 1900.Edwin Munroe, George Bacon, Edward Ellis. Bacon’s Dictionary of Boston. 1886. P. 123-124.

History

By the end of the 19th-century,

had become an important art center with number of highly respected artists teaching in the city. A rich artistic environment was promoted, at least in part, by the Massachusetts Drawing Act of 1870. The first of its kind in the nation, the legislation added drawing to a list of school subjects that were required to be taught in all

public schools: reading, writing, grammar,

orthography An orthography is a set of conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation. Most transnational languages in the modern period have a writing system, and mos ...

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

arithmetic Arithmetic () is an elementary part of mathematics that consists of the study of the properties of the traditional operations on numbers— addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponentiation, and extraction of roots. In the 19th ...

United States history The history of the lands that became the United States began with the arrival of the first people in the Americas around 15,000 BC. Numerous indigenous cultures formed, and many saw transformations in the 16th century away from more densely ...

, and good behavior. The Drawing Act of 1870 also required towns with populations exceeding 10,000 to make industrial and

mechanical drawing {{Technical drawingsMechanical systems drawing is a type of technical drawing that shows information about heating, ventilating, air conditioning and transportation around the building (Elevators or Lifts and Escalator).Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. To fill this sudden need for art teachers, Massachusetts Normal Art School (MNA) was established in 1873, and the Cowles Art School was founded ten years later in 1883. Located two blocks behind the Museum of Fine Arts, in the New Studio Building near the

Back Bay Station Back Bay station (also signed as Back Bay · South End) is an intermodal passenger station in Boston, Massachusetts. It is located just south of Copley Square in Boston's Back Bay and South End neighborhoods. It serves MBTA Commuter Rail and M ...

, the school was established by Frank Cowles. He modeled the curriculum off of the Parisian art academies of his time, and borrowed the school's price structure from that of the nearby

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may stu ...

. Throughout its existence, the art school was well known for its instructors. Frank Cowles placed a heavy emphasis on hiring artists that were also well-versed in

mechanical drawing {{Technical drawingsMechanical systems drawing is a type of technical drawing that shows information about heating, ventilating, air conditioning and transportation around the building (Elevators or Lifts and Escalator).lecturing A lecture (from Latin ''lēctūra'' “reading” ) is an oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a university or college teacher. Lectures are used to convey critical inform ...

, resulting in a faculty of confident

artists An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, the ...

ready to impart their knowledge to both advanced professionals and brand-new beginner artists. The Cowles Art School merged with the

New England Conservatory The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on Hu ...

in 1900, but

fine arts In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...

instruction there ended only two years later in 1902.

Courses

The Cowles Art School offered instruction in both men's and women's

figure drawing A figure drawing is a drawing of the human form in any of its various shapes and postures using any of the drawing media. The term can also refer to the act of producing such a drawing. The degree of representation may range from highly detailed, ...

and

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

from the flat cast and life, artistic anatomy, perspective,

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

oil painting Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...

watercolors Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

, and both

and

drawing Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayons, ...

courses in

still life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...

and

portraiture A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this r ...

. Unlike many other art schools of the time, Cowles also offered courses in things like

art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

, the

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

, and

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

. According to an article published in 1886 that advocated for more

art school An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, including fine art – especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. Art schools can offer elementary, secondary, post-seco ...

s to copy Cowles' educational model, the school had organized itself into six distinct departments:

watercolor painting Watercolor (American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the U ...

, flowers and

still-life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or man-made (drinking glasses, boo ...

, portraiture drawing, drawing from cast, evening classes, and

life drawing A figure drawing is a drawing of the human form in any of its various shapes and postures using any of the drawing media. The term can also refer to the act of producing such a drawing. The degree of representation may range from highly detailed, ...

for men and women. Cowles Art School Life Drawing Class ca, 1897

The school's

certification Certification is the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestation or confirmation of certain characteristics of a ...

process encouraged students to take breaks and

study abroad International students, or foreign students, are students who undertake all or part of their tertiary education in a country other than their own and move to that country for the purpose of studying. In 2019, there were over 6 million internati ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, with students finding they had a good reputation amongst schools in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. They also welcomed nontraditional students, offering morning, afternoon, and evening classes, summer programs, and Saturday morning lessons. Many

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...

opportunities were open to all students, who regularly won

scholarships A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarshi ...

and awards for their efforts.

Notable instructors

Dennis Miller Bunker Dennis Miller Bunker (November 6, 1861 – December 28, 1890) was an American painter and innovator of American Impressionism. His mature works include both brightly colored landscape paintings and dark, finely drawn portraits and figures. One ...

, chief instructor of painting (1885-1889) *

Joseph DeCamp Joseph Rodefer DeCamp (November 5, 1858February 11, 1923) was an American painter and educator. Biography Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he studied with Frank Duveneck. In the second half of the 1870s he went with Duveneck and fellow students ...

, chief instructor of painting, life drawing (1890-1899) * Abbott Fuller Graves still life and flowers instructor (1885-1887) *

Childe Hassam Frederick Childe Hassam (; October 17, 1859 – August 27, 1935) was an American Impressionist painter, noted for his urban and coastal scenes. Along with Mary Cassatt and John Henry Twachtman, Hassam was instrumental in promulgating Impressioni ...

(1884-1886) *

Robert Vonnoh Robert William Vonnoh (September 17, 1858 – 28 December 1933) was an American Impressionist painter known for his portraits and landscapes. He traveled extensively between the American East Coast and France, more specifically the artists ...

(1884-1885) * Amy Maria Sacker (1894-1900) * Ernest Lee Major life drawing instructor (1888-1896) * Theodore Wendel (1892-1897)

Notable students

William McGregor Paxton - The green dress

Elizabeth Gowdy Baker Elizabeth Gowdy Baker (1860–1927) was an American portrait painter. Biography Born at Xenia, Ohio, she graduated from Monmouth College where she was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma. She taught at Monmouth for a while until she was dismissed ...

Ethel Isadore Brown Ethel Isadore Brown (1872–1944) was a painter, illustrator, and schoolteacher from Boston, best known for her 1898 painting ''Vision de Saint Jean à Patmos''. Biography Brown was born in Boston in 1872, one of three children of Edward P. Br ...

Lucia Fairchild Fuller Lucia Fairchild Fuller (December 6, 1870 – May 21, 1924) was an American painter and member of the New Hampshire Cornish Art Colony. She was inspired to pursue art by John Singer Sargent. Fuller created a mural entitled ''The'' ''Women of ...

* John A. Wilson * Julia Collier Harris * Ethel Reed (1893) * Lila Cabot Perry (1886-1887) * William Cotton *

William McGregor Paxton William McGregor Paxton (June 22, 1869 – 1941) was an American painter and instructor who embraced the Boston School paradigm and was a co-founder of The Guild of Boston Artists. He taught briefly while a student at Cowles Art School, wher ...

(1893) *

Elizabeth Okie Paxton Elizabeth Okie Paxton (1878–1972) was an American painter, married to another artist William McGregor Paxton (1869–1941). The Paxtons were part of the Boston School, a prominent group of artists known for works of beautiful interiors, landsc ...

(1893) *

W. Herbert Dunton William Herbert "Buck" Dunton (August 28, 1878 – March 18, 1936) was an American artist and a founding member of the Taos Society of Artists. He is noted for paintings of cowboys, New Mexico, and the American Southwest. Early life and educatio ...

* George Elmer Browne * Sarah Choate Sears *

Henry Brown Fuller Henry Brown Fuller (1867-1934) was an American painter of classical and allegorical works. Life and work Fuller was the son of painter George Fuller. He married fellow artist Lucia Fairchild in 1893 and had two children, Charles and Clara. Fro ...

Angel De Cora Angel De Cora Dietz (1871–1919) was a Winnebago painter, illustrator, Native American rights advocate, and teacher at Carlisle Indian School. She was a well-known Native American artist before World War I. Background Angel De Cora Dietz or H ...

(1898) *

Jo Mora Joseph Jacinto Mora (October 22, 1876 – October 10, 1947) was a Uruguayan-born American cowboy, photographer, artist, cartoonist, illustrator, painter, muralist, sculptor, and historian who lived with the Hopi and wrote about his experiences in ...

* William Jurian Kaula (1891-1896) * Arthur Merton Hazard

References

Art schools in Massachusetts Universities and colleges in Boston Defunct private universities and colleges in Massachusetts Educational institutions established in 1883 Educational institutions disestablished in 1900 1883 in the arts 1883 establishments in Massachusetts 1900 disestablishments in Massachusetts Cultural history of Boston {{Boston-stub