Arthur Wesley Dow
- Also known as
- Arthur W. Dow
- Born
- Ipswich, Massachusetts, United States
- Active in
- Detroit, Michigan, United States
- Biography
Arthur Wesley Dow studied art in Paris. Upon returning to the United States, he became an important commercial designer. Although he designed relatively few posters, his works are important in terms of their stylistic innovations.
When Dow returned from Paris, he became acquainted with Ernest Fenellosa, curator of Oriental art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; this friendship led him to develop a deep interest in Japanese art. As a result, his own designs incorporated the Japanese linear approach to form as well as broad planes of mass and color. Not merely borrowing the forms and style of Japanese art, Dow sought a synthesis of Western and Eastern art. Landscape was of particular importance to Dow, and he executed a number of works based on studies of nature in Ipswich.
In addition to his accomplishments as an artist, Dow was an important educator. He taught at Pratt Institute and the Art Students League at the turn of the century.
Therese Thau Heyman Posters American Style (New York and Washington, D.C.: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., in association with the National Museum of American Art, 1998)