Cowles Art School facts for kids

The painter Elizabeth Okie Paxton (1877–1971), who studied at the Cowles Art School.

The Cowles Art School, also called the Cowles School of Art, was a famous art school in Boston, Massachusetts. It opened in 1883 and taught many students until 1900. It was one of the biggest art schools in the city, with hundreds of students learning there.

Discovering the Cowles Art School

By the end of the 1800s, Boston had become a very important center for art. Many respected artists taught in the city. This rich art scene grew partly because of the Massachusetts Drawing Act of 1870. This law made drawing lessons a must in public schools.

To help train art teachers, the Massachusetts Normal Art (MNA) school was started in 1873. The Cowles Art School opened ten years later, in 1883. It was located in the New Studio Building, close to the Museum of Fine Arts and the Back Bay Station.

What You Could Learn at Cowles

The Cowles Art School offered many different art classes. Students could learn to draw and paint people, both from copies of famous sculptures (called "flat cast") and from real-life models. They also studied how the human body works for art (artistic anatomy).

Other subjects included perspective, which is how to show depth in a drawing, and composition, which is how to arrange things in a picture. Students also learned to paint still life (like bowls of fruit or flowers). They practiced drawing and painting heads from real people. Both oil and watercolor painting were taught, along with more drawing skills.

Famous Artists Who Studied or Taught Here

Many talented artists were part of the Cowles Art School. Some of them studied there, while others taught classes. Here are some of the notable people connected to the school: