Walter F. Isaacs

born Gillespie, Illinois, 1886; died Seattle, Washington, 1964

BiographyWalter Isaacs trained at the Academie Colorossi in Paris during the 1920s then came to the University of Washington upon the invitation of Henry Suzzallo, President of the university. Isaacs served as teacher in and ultimately director of the University of Washington School of Art from 1923 to 1954.His leadership was instrumental in the development of the art department and he was a major influence on three generations of students. He also served as director of the Henry Art Gallery at the university for many years.

Isaacs was a member of the Group of Twelve, a loose association of Seattle artists in the 1910s and 1920s interested in modern art. His paintings and teachings were grounded in the formal principles of the French Postimpressionist painters, such as Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) and Henri Matisse (1869-1954) who he had studied in Paris. His focus differed from his better-known and more mystical contemporaries of the Northwest School, who were more interested in regional environmental influences.

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