Arthur Wesley Dow

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Arthur Wesley Dow (1857 - 1922) was an American painter, photographer and influential arts educator.

Dow taught at major American arts training institutions for 30 years including the Teachers College at Columbia University; the Arts Students League; Pratt Institute; and his own Ipswich Summer School of Art. His ideas where quite revolutionary for the period, he taught that rather than copying nature, art should be created by elements of the composition, like line, mass and color. His ideas were published in the 1899 book Composition: A Series of Exercises in Art Structure for the Use of Students and Teachers. He taught many of Americans leading artists and craftspeople, including Georgia O'Keeffe and the Byrdcliffe Colony.