RISD created the Freehand and Painting Department in 1901 as part of a general reorganization of the school. Taught since the school's opening in 1878, painting was part of the general Freehand Department, 1886-1901. Instruction was based upon the independent French atelier system. The appointment of John R. Frazier as Department Head in 1923 led to a gradual move to a unified curriculum. The 1930s brought course work in the Mural Painting (1933-1947) and Portraiture (1933-1946) majors.
The department became part of the new Fine Arts Division in 1940 and the school offered an illustration major in 1943. All three majors led to a BFA beginning in 1943. A 1947 reorganization led to a consolidation of majors under Illustration or Painting. Illustration remained a part of the department until RISD appointed a separate Head of Illustration in 1962.
In 1943 Painting began to offer a lithography course, originally part of Graphic Arts. Renamed the printmaking workshop in 1956, the coursework was expanded in 1962. RISD changed the department name to Painting and Printmaking in 1972 with two separate majors. A subsequent reorganization in 1979 stripped Printmaking from the title, but retained Printmaking as a program within the department. In 1990 all programs within the Fine Arts Division became individual departments.
From the guide to the Rhode Island School of Design. Painting Department records, Painting Department records, 1987-2010, (Rhode Island School of Design Archives)
