Vintage Texas Paintings
Vintage Texas Paintings

  "View from Apartment"

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    Chester Dixon Snowden (1900–1984), was born Chester Genora Snowden in Elgin, Texas. Snowden was the son of James Albert Snowden and Amelia Pearl Frazier. He graduated from The University of Texas at Austin and attended the Cooper Union in New York as well as studying at the Art Students League of New York, Grand Central Galleries Art School (New York) and the Richard Art School in Los Angeles. His teachers included Harry Sternberg, Boardman Robinson and Walter Jack Duncan. Snowden worked as a painter, illustrator, educator and playwright. For decades, Snowden provided art for the publications of naturalist author, Royal Dixon. Snowden and Dixon were life partners and since 1934 lived together at "Camellia Place", located at 1310 Truxillo Street in Houston, Texas. Snowden adopted the professional name, Chester Dixon Snowden, based on his relationship with Dixon. As an illustrator, his social circles overlapped with the literary personalities of his time. In 1934, he co-wrote with Margo Jones the Texas Centennial play "Pioneer Texas". Works illustrated by Snowden include "Shafts of Gold" (1938), "Children of Hawaii" (1939), "Ape of Heaven", "Half Dark Moon" and "Wildwood Friends." By 1946, Snowden had illustrated twenty-two books. Snowden reported in Houston's Mirror in 1968 that he had counted among his friends and acquaintances Robert Frost, Edna St. Vincent Millay and George Bernard Shaw. His works included pen and ink drawings and many experiments in different mediums and was inspired by the works of Matisse and Picasso. Snowden was always encouraging his students to try new media and new ideas in art. A group exhibition of works by former students at the Museum School, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston organized by Robert Preusser was shown in 1951. It Included work by Snowden, Lowell Collins, Frank Freed, Gertrude Levy, Leila McConnell, Stella Sullivan and George Shackelford. Since 1964, Chester Snowden and Alfred Zeller worked together in their Thirteen Ten Art Studio & Galleries, located at 1310 Truxillo Street in Houston, Texas. They offered classes in oil painting and other mediums as well as framing.

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  • Biography

    Chester Snowden (1900 - 1984)

    Chester Snowden was born in Elgin, Texas. He attended The University of Texas in Austin and the Cooper Union in New York as well as studying at the Art Students League of New York, Grand Central Galleries Art School, also in New York and the Richard Art School in Los Angeles. His teachers included Harry Sternberg, Boardman Robinson and Walter Jack Duncan. Snowden worked as a painter and an illustrator, for decades providing art for the publications of naturalist author, Royal Dixon. As an illustrator, his social circles overlapped with the literary personalities of his time. He reported in Houston’s Mirror in 1968 that he had counted among his friends and acquaintances Robert Frost, George Bernard Shaw and Edna St. Vincent Millay and that his studio was once owned by O Henry. He showed in many Annual Exhibitions of Work by Houston Artists as well as the Annual Southeast Texas Artists Exhibition, Texas General Exhibition, Annual Texas Artists Circuit Exhibition and Texas Painting and Sculpture Exhibition. He also exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. His work can be found in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

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