author
Will H. (Will Hicok) Low
1853–1932
Best known as an American muralist and writer on art, he moved with ease between painting, illustration, and memoir. His life connected Gilded Age American art with the studios and friendships of late-19th-century Paris.
1 Audiobook
Some Artists at the Fair
by Francis Davis Millet, W. Hamilton (William Hamilton) Gibson, Will H. (Will Hicok) Low, John Ames Mitchell, Francis Hopkinson Smith
About the author
Born in Albany, New York, in 1853, Will Hicok Low trained first with the sculptor Erastus Dow Palmer, then worked as an illustrator in New York before continuing his studies in Paris. There he studied with Jean-Léon Gérôme and Carolus-Duran, absorbed influences from French academic and Barbizon painting, and began building the international outlook that shaped his career.
Low became known for decorative painting and murals as well as easel works and illustration. He worked on major public commissions and was part of the generation of American artists who helped bring large-scale mural painting into prominence in the United States.
He also wrote memorably about the art world he knew. His books, including recollections of Robert Louis Stevenson and his own chronicle of artistic friendships, make him especially interesting as both a maker of art and a witness to the cultural life of his time. He died in 1932.