The Old Print Shop

Arthur Wesley Dow

(1857-1922)

Arthur Wesley Dow (1857–1922) was an important figure in the Arts & Crafts movement in America. His thoughts and teachings influenced many artists and craftsmen well beyond the fields of printmaking, painting, and photography.

Arthur Wesley Dow was born in Ipswich, Massachusetts in 1857. He received his first art training in 1880 from Anna K. Freeland of Worcester, Massachusetts. In 1881 he went to Boston to continue his art instruction studying with James M. Stone. He left for France in 1884 and studied at the Académie Julian in Paris and at Pont-Aven in Brittany.

He returned to America in 1887 and soon thereafter at the J. Eastman Chase Gallery in Boston had his first solo exhibition. In 1889 and began teaching art classes in Ipswich, Mass before moving to Boston in 1890. It was during this period that Dow's interest in Japanese printmaking took hold.  He became assistant curator of Japanese prints at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. He continued to influence younger artists and produced a remarkable body of color woodcuts.

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