Born in the coastal town of Ipswich, Massachusetts in 1857, Arthur Wesley Dow did not become seriously interested in art until adulthood, when he began formal studies in 1880.  He traveled to Paris in 1884 where he studied at the Académie Julian and the École Nationale des Arts Décoratifs.  Regular acceptance of his work in the annual Salons in Paris led to a one-man show at a Boston gallery in January 1888 for which Dow returned to the United States.  The success of the show allowed him to visit France for an additional year of studies at the Académie Delance where he focused on landscapes.