Legendary Work by Watercolorist M. Louise Stowell at RIT's Bevier Gallery

“… Miss Louise Stowell is an American girl so steeped in what the French would call “Japaneseries” that, if it were not for the saving grace of American humor, you would suspect her of being a changeling-a Japanese baby left in an American cradle… They are her hobby, those prints, and her studio on the seventh floor of the Powers building is a sort of sanctuary of Eastern art.”

-Rochester Post, 1897

Call it “M” for mystery.

Art historians still play sleuth when it comes to the first initial in M. Louise Stowell's name. During the Rochester artist's lifetime (1861-1930), the 1880 census records say Minnie, her death certificate registers Marie, and her tombstone at Mr. Hope Cemetery is inscribed Mary.

Or perhaps it's M for mastery. One hundred years ago, Stowell was a staunch supporter of the Arts and Crafts movement as well as an accomplished watercolorist and graphics designer who earned a national reputation for her artwork-a blend of Japanese aesthetics with Arts and Crafts design. She was also an educator, teaching classes intermittently until 1908 at Rochester Institute of Technology's Mechanics Institute after receiving a fine arts certificate in 1889.

In honor of RIT's 175th anniversary, the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences is hosting a never-seen-before exhibition by the former Mechanics Institute graduate. “M. Louise Stowell: Arts and Crafts Artist and Educator” runs from Sept. 17 through Oct. 13 at Bevier Gallery, James E. Booth Bldg. An opening reception is scheduled for 6:30 to 8 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 1.

The exhibition will showcase 30 artifacts on loan from the Stowell collection, courtesy of Strong Museum, as well as 15 pieces from private Arts and Crafts collectors.

“In the 19th century few careers were open to women and art became one of them,” says Patricia Tice, CIAS adjunct professor and Memorial Art Gallery museum consultant. “M. Louise Stowell is one of many artists who happens to be a woman whose work remains uncharted.”

A hometown artist, Stowell lived her entire life in her family home on Atkinson Street in the South Ward until she died at the age of 69. Although she traveled to New York City to complete her studies at the Art League and Metropolitan School of Art, she never traveled to Europe or the Far East. And yet, she painted scenes of London, Holland, Brittany and Japan as if she had seen them first hand.

“The striking beauty of line, of color, and harmonies she created are unparalleled,” Tice notes. “She was greatly influenced by Arthur Wesley Down, a curator of Japanese Art at Boston's Museum, and also Harvey Ellis, an architect, artist and designer who returned to Rochester around 1894 and occupied a studio near hers in the Powers Building. Together they developed techniques using watercolor over charcoal to achieve strong lines imbued with rich colors.”

The Bevier exhibition will feature a medley of watercolor landscapes and Japanese-inspired prints from the Stowell collection, silhouettes and graphic reproductions by Ellis, and photos/artifacts of arts and crafts at the Mechanics Institute, courtesy of Special Collections and Archives, RIT Libraries.

In conjunction with the M. Louise Stowell Exhibition, a symposium will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sat., Oct. 2, in Webb Auditorium, James E. Booth Bldg. Free and open to the public, discussions will focus on Stowell, her teaching styles and the arts and crafts movement.

“Louise was a pioneer in her times and was better known outside of Rochester,” Tice explains. “But local reporters also enjoyed interviewing 'Miss Louise' for her philosophy on the arts.”

True to form, Stowell once observed, “The outcome of art is to reproduce the essence, the type, the ideal. If I paint a rose, I do not aim to render the blossom which lies before me but a rose which shall make you think of all the roses you have ever seen.”

Regular gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday; 7 to 9 p.m., Monday to Thursday; 1 to 4:30 p.m., Saturday; and 2 to 4:30 p.m., Sunday. The Bevier Gallery, handicapped-accessible, is located in the James E. Booth Building on RIT's Henrietta campus. All exhibits are free. For more information, call the Bevier Gallery at 475-7680 or 475-2646.