Dow's Conception of Teaching Art: 'Harmonious Composition' and 'Notan.'

A U.S. art educator, Arthur Wesley Dow, synthesized Japanese and U.S. culture in his philosophy of art education. This paper portrays the process of cross-cultural interpretation as a way for an individual to make sense of his or her world in relation to those of others. The paper seeks to explain Dow's legacy in terms of the Oriental cultural tradition of art, noting that it is because his ideas were derived from his views regarding the nature of art rather than from a particular conception of children's artistic development that a multicultural heritage of art education is exemplified in Dow's interest in Oriental art. The paper discusses Dow's contribution to U.S. art education and considers interpretations of his transformation of Oriental art, speculating on spirituality and Hsieh Ho's first canon, ch'i, and notan. Contains 41 references. (BT)