Howard Pyle, a chronicle by Charles D. Abbott, with an introduction by N. C. Wyeth and many illustrations from Howard Pyle's works.

CHAPTER X

SCHOOLS AND THEORIES OF ART
HEN, after eighteen years of unremitting work as
#'Kan illustrator, Howard Pyle had firmly established
himself as a master of his profession, he began to feel a
pressing desire to pass on to others the knowledge which he
had gained from so much experience. His opinions on art
instruction were by no means orthodox; they were outgrowths of successful practical work, unimpeded by the cant
of any schools of artistic method. He himself had risen
largely by dint of his own application and energy, without
the aid of long study abroad and without very much schooling at home; in the light of this success, he was confident
that he could materially help the younger generation of artists by showing them how he had learned to master his art,
and by freeing them from the cramping influence of the
methods usually taught in the academies and schools. Accordingly, when the Drexel Institute of Arts and Sciences
in Philadelphia asked him to conduct a class 'in illustration
during the winter of 1 894-1895, he immediately accepted
the offer, and in October undertook his new duties. This
was the beginning of a career of teaching which was to last
almost to the end of his life.
In the roll of this first class in illustration at the Drexel
Institute were thirty-six names, among which were those of
Violet Oakley, Jessie Willcox Smith, and Maxfield Parrish.
With this group of enthusiasts he worked endlessly and tire[ 203]1