{{Short description|American painter (1854–1927)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = Charles Lewis Fox | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1854|09|20}} | birth_place = Portland, Maine | death_date = {{Death date and age |1927|03|20|1854|09|20}} | death_place = | other_names = | occupation = Artist, Philanthropist, and Labor Activist | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = }} '''Charles Lewis Fox''' (September 20, 1854 – March 20, 1927) was an American artist, philanthropist and labor activist from Maine. Prominent in the Portland, Maine artist community, Fox was a proponent of socialism and twice ran for Governor of Maine on the Socialist Party of Maine ticket.<ref name="Obit1927">{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1928&dat=19270321&id=zwgiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=e2kFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1665,5874424&hl=en|title=Noted Portland Artist Dies|date=March 21, 1927|work=The Lewiston Daily Sun|pages=1, 4|accessdate=20 May 2016}}</ref> He was secretary of the Brotherhood of Painters, Decorators and Paperhangers of America, Local 237.<ref name="Scontras">{{cite news|url=https://www.pressherald.com/2015/09/07/maine-voices-early-20th-century-maine-workers-would-have-understood-bernie-sanders/|title=Maine Voices: Early 20th-century Maine workers would have understood Bernie Sanders|last=Scontras|first=Charles|date=September 7, 2015|work=Portland Press Herald|accessdate=24 January 2018}}</ref>
==Early life== Fox was born to Archelaus Lewis Fox and Dorcas Eaton of Portland, Maine in 1854. He was a boy during the American Civil War, which ended in 1865. His family was wealthy and Fox attended Portland Public Schools before attempting to become an architect at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He left MIT and instead traveled to Paris, France to study art, he was also exposed to socialist ideas.<ref name="Obit1927"/> In France, he studied under the guidance of Léon Bonnat and Alexandre Cabanel at the École des Beaux-Arts. He also spent time at the Gobelins Manufactory as an apprentice weaver.
==Art== As an artist, Fox received acclaim for his summer art school in North Bridgton, Maine<ref name="LEJ1961">{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1913&dat=19610120&id=H7AgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=nWkFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5098,1716146&hl=en|title=Charles Fox, Artist|last=Frost Lord|first=Alice|date=January 20, 1961|work=Lewiston Evening Journal|page=2|accessdate=20 May 2016}}</ref> as well as his oil paintings, mostly of Native Americans. His collection of paintings is housed at the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland.<ref name="Interests">{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1913&dat=19610121&id=ILAgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=nWkFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1956,1899036&hl=en|title=Charles Fox, Outstanding Maine Artist, Man of Many Interests|last=Frost Lord|first=Alice|date=January 21, 1961|work=Lewiston Evening Journal|pages=A–7|accessdate=20 May 2016}}</ref> Fox operated The Fox Art School in Portland, which was a prominent regional art studio primarily for Maine residents unable to travel to New York City. The studio was cooperatively run; its motto was "to work and to paint for the brotherhood of mankind".
==Politics== Fox served on the national committee of the Socialist Party of America as the representative of the Socialist Party of Maine three times (1904, 1905 and 1907).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marxisthistory.org/subject/usa/eam/spaofficials.html|title=SOCIALIST PARTY OF AMERICA (1897-1946) officials|accessdate=20 May 2016}}</ref> He twice ran for governor. During his first campaign in 1902, Fox challenged incumbent Republican John Fremont Hill. He received 1,979 votes (1.83%) and finished in 4th place. This was a significant improvement over the 653 votes gathered by Norman Wallace Lermond in 1900. It qualified the party for official recognition. In his second campaign in 1906, Fox challenged Republican William T. Cobb. Fox received 1,551 (1.37%) vote (3 of 4).<ref name="MaineRegister1980">{{cite book|title=Maine Register State Year-Book and Legislative Manual|year=1980|publisher=Tower Publishing Company|location=Portland, ME|page=82}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Charles L}} Category:1854 births Category:1927 deaths Category:Socialist Party of America politicians from Maine Category:Artists from Portland, Maine Category:Politicians from Portland, Maine Category:Painters from Maine Category:MIT School of Architecture and Planning alumni Category:American expatriates in France Category:Trade unionists from Maine Category:Activists from Portland, Maine Category:International Union of Painters and Allied Trades