California school of design - mark hopkins institu

Established in 1874, the California School of Design began as the San Francisco Art Association School of Design and was established by the San Francisco Art Association led by President William Alvord. A collection of casts for students to copy was donated by the French government as a thank you for relief-fund gifts France had received earlier from San Francisco citizens after the Franco-Prussian War. Each School session ended with an exhibition of work by the students. Virgil Williams became the first director and served until his death in 1886. One of its most influential Directors was Arthur Mathews, who in 1890, followed Emil Carlsen who had directed from 1886. Mathews injected many French ideas of painting into the curriculum, and his teaching from the Institute of his own Tonalist style caused that style to dominate painting in Northern California for many years. Among distinguished faculty members were Thomas Hill, Amedee Joullin, Raymond Dabb Yelland and Oscar Kunath. In 1893, the name became the Mark Hopkins Institute, which became affiliated with the University of California. Other name changes have occurred. From 1906 to 1916, it was the San Francisco Institute of Art; from 1916 to 1961, California School of Fine Arts; and from 1961 to the present, San Francisco Art Institute. Source: Robert Howe Fletcher, editor, ???The California School of Design: Supplement of the Mark Hopkins Institute Review of Art???, June, 1902, Vol. 1, No. 5.