John Trevor Hayes (21 January 1929 – 25 December 2005) was a British art historian and

museum director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

. He was an authority on the paintings of

Thomas Gainsborough Thomas Gainsborough (; 14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists o ...

Early life

Hayes was educated at

Ardingly College Ardingly College () is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging Boarding school, boarding and Day school, day school in the English Public school (UK), public school tradition located near Ardingly, West Sussex, England. The school ...

and read modern history at

Keble College, Oxford Keble College () is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, University Museum a ...

after which he undertook a postgraduate diploma at

The Courtauld Institute of Art The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. The art collection is known particularly for ...

Career

In 1954, he became assistant keeper of the London Museum in

Kensington Palace Kensington Palace is a royal residence situated within Kensington Gardens in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It has served as a residence for the British royal family since the 17th century and is currently the ...

, the forerunner to the modern

Museum of London London Museum (known from 1976 to 2024 as the Museum of London) is a museum in London, covering the history of the city from prehistoric to modern times, with a particular focus on social history. The Museum of London was formed in 1976 by ama ...

. He developed an interest in Gainsborough after realising that British artists had hitherto been neglected by art-historical scholarship. Taking advantage of a

Commonwealth Fund The Commonwealth Fund is a private American foundation whose stated purpose is to "promote a high-performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly for society's most vulnerable, inc ...

fellowship, he travelled to the United States and spent a year as a Research Scholar at the

New York University Institute of Fine Arts New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

from 1958 to 1959. After his return, he curated a Gainsborough exhibition for the

Arts Council An arts council is a government or private non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts; mainly by funding local artists, awarding prizes, and organizing arts events. They often operate at arms-length from the government to prevent pol ...

and in 1962 he received his PhD for research into Gainsborough's landscape paintings. He was visiting professor of fine arts at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

from 1960 to 1970. From 1970 to 1974, Hayes was director of the London Museum, overseeing its move to new premises on

London Wall The London Wall is a defensive wall first built by the Ancient Rome, Romans around the strategically important port town of Londinium in AD 200, as well as the name of a #modern, modern street in the City of London, England. Roman London was ...

. In 1974, he was subsequently appointed director of the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

, succeeding Sir

Roy Strong Sir Roy Colin Strong, (born 23 August 1935) is an English art historian, museum curator, writer, broadcaster and landscape designer. He has served as director of both the National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. ...

in the post. The duties that came with the NPG directorship did not curtail Hayes's scholarly activities, however, and during his tenure he managed to curate a major Gainsborough exhibition at the

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...

and the

Grand Palais The (; ), commonly known as the , is a historic site, exhibition hall and museum complex located in the 8th arrondissement of Paris between the Champs-Élysées and the Seine, France. Construction of the began in 1897 following the demolitio ...

, Paris), and numerous smaller ones, including one of

Graham Sutherland Graham Vivian Sutherland (24 August 1903 – 17 February 1980) was a prolific English artist. Notable for his paintings of abstract landscapes and for his portraits of public figures, Sutherland also worked in other media, including printmakin ...

's work. Under his aegis, the NPG's annual portrait award (now the

BP Portrait Award The BP Portrait Award was an annual portraiture competition held at the National Portrait Gallery in London, England. It is the successor to the John Player Portrait Award. It is the most important portrait prize in the world, and is reputedly ...

) was established in 1980, and two regional outposts for the gallery opened at

Beningbrough Hall Beningbrough Hall is a large Baroque mansion near the village of Beningbrough, North Yorkshire, England, and overlooks the River Ouse. It has baroque interiors, cantilevered stairs, wood carving and central corridors which run the length of t ...

in Yorkshire and

Bodelwyddan Castle Bodelwyddan Castle (), close to the village of Bodelwyddan, near Rhyl, Denbighshire in Wales, was built around 1460 by the Humphreys family of Anglesey as a manor house. It was associated with the Williams-Wynn family for around 200 years from ...

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, Flintshire to the east, Wrexham to the southeast, Powys to the south, and Gwynedd and Conwy to the west. Rhyl is the largest town, and Ruthi ...

. Plans to move the institution to larger premises in London were never realised, although a new block for staff was built across the road from the Gallery's Victorian building.

Later years

After his retirement in 1994, Hayes continued in his scholarly work, curating a further Gainsborough exhibition in

Ferrara Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, capital of the province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main ...

and serving as vice-president of the

Walpole Society The Walpole Society, named after Horace Walpole, was founded in 1911 to promote the study of the history of British art and artists. From 1762 on, Walpole had published the first history of art in Britain, based on the manuscript notebooks of G ...

Selected publications

*''Thomas Gainsborough''. Tate Gallery, London, 1980. *''The Letters of Thomas Gainsborough,'' Paul Mellon Centre by Yale University Press, 2001. *''Gainsborough and Rowlandson: a New York private collection,'' Private Publication, New York, 1998. *''Thomas Gainsborough'', Ferrara Arte, 1998. *''London in paint: oil paintings in the collection at the Museum of London'', Museum of London, 1996. *''British paintings of the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries,'' Cambridge University Press, 1993. *''The Art of Thomas Rowlandson'', Arts Services International, 1990. *''The Landscape Paintings of Thomas Gainsborough''; ''a critical text and catalogue raisonné'', Philip Wilson for Sotheby Publications, 1983. *''The art of Graham Sutherland'', Phaidon, 1980. *''Portraits by Graham Sutherland,'' National Portrait Gallery, 1977. *''Gainsborough: paintings and drawings'', Phaidon, 1975. *''Richard Wilson'', Purnell & Sons, 1966.

External links

The John Hayes Archive

Dictionary of Art Historians
entry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayes, John 1929 births 2005 deaths People educated at Ardingly College Alumni of Keble College, Oxford Alumni of the Courtauld Institute of Art English art historians English curators Directors of the National Portrait Gallery, London Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English male non-fiction writers New York University Institute of Fine Arts alumni 20th-century English male writers Fellows of the Royal Society of Arts