Frank M. Cowles - signed document, 1899, Suffolk Co., Mass., forming a corporation to be known by the name of Cowles Art Institute. Approx. 8.5 x 14 in., 1-page. Also known as Cowles Art School (aka Cowles School of Art) was a studio building on 148 Dartmouth Street, Boston, Massachusetts, that was established in 1883 and continued operation until 1900. It was one of the largest art schools in the city, having several hundred scholars. By the end of the 19th century, Boston had become an important art center. A number of highly respected artists were teaching in city. The rich environment for art had been promoted at least in part by the Massachusetts Drawing Act of 1870. The act mandated drawing lessons in public schools. To fill the need for art teachers, Massachusetts Normal Art (MNA) was established in 1873. Two blocks behind the Museum of Fine Arts, in the New Studio Building near the Back Bay Station, was the Cowles Art School (1883). Cowles Art School offered instruction in figure drawing and painting from the flat cast and life, artistic anatomy, perspective and composition, painting still life, drawing and painting the head from life, drawing still life, oil and water colors, ad perspective. Notable alumni and instructors included Childe Hassam, William McGregor Paxton, Abbott Fuller Graves, George Elmer Browne, Robert Vonnoh etc. Fine.

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