Researching Chester Snowden

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 of 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.

Snowden exhibited regularly in Texas from the mid-1930s through 1960. His works have been exhibited at various galleries and museums including The Corcoran Gallery of Art, The Contemporary Arts Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Snowden died in 1984 and the location of his grave is unknown.