Robert Beverly Hale (1901–November 14, 1985) was an artist, curator of American paintings at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, and instructor of artistic anatomy at the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may study f ...

and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art. He was also the author of the well-known book ''Drawing Lessons from the Great Masters'', as well as the translator of the classic anatomy text ''Artistic Anatomy'' by Dr. Paul Richer.

Life and career

Hale was born into a prominent family in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

."I Will Never Look at Painting the Same Way Again"
, ''ARTnews''. His grandfather was the clergyman and author

Edward Everett Hale Edward Everett Hale (April 3, 1822 – June 10, 1909) was an American author, historian, and Unitarian minister, best known for his writings such as " The Man Without a Country", published in ''Atlantic Monthly'', in support of the Union ...

(1822-1909). Two of his father's siblings were well known artists: Ellen Day Hale and Philip Leslie Hale. He grew up in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and studied at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, where he did post-graduate work at the

School of Architecture This is a list of architecture schools at colleges and universities around the world. An architecture school (also known as a school of architecture or college of architecture), is a professional school or institution specializing in architectura ...

. He also studied at the

Art Students League The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may study f ...

under

George Bridgman George Brant Bridgman (November 5, 1864 – December 16, 1943) was a Canadian-American Painting, painter, writer, and teacher in the fields of anatomy and figure drawing. Bridgman taught anatomy for artists at the Art Students League of New Yor ...

and William McNulty, and at the Sorbonne in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

.''Negative Realist''
review of Hale exhibition in ''TIME'', 1960. From 1942 to 1949 Hale worked as Editorial Associate for ''

Art News ''ARTnews'' is an American art magazine, based in New York City. It covers visual arts from ancient to contemporary times. It is the oldest and most widely distributed art magazine in the world. ''ARTnews'' has a readership of 180,000 in 124 co ...

'' magazine. A long-time Instructor of Drawing and Lecturer on Anatomy at the Art Students League, and Adjunct Professor of Drawing at Columbia, Hale taught and wrote on the principles of

chiaroscuro In art, chiaroscuro ( , ; ) is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts of light to ach ...

and observation from life, encouraging his students to see and draw forms in nature as the geometric "mass conceptions" of cylinders, cubes, or spheres. His lectures at the League included demonstrations of life-size figure drawings, much as had those of his teacher and predecessor,

George Brandt Bridgman George Brant Bridgman (November 5, 1864 – December 16, 1943) was a Canadian-American painter, writer, and teacher in the fields of anatomy and figure drawing. Bridgman taught anatomy for artists at the Art Students League of New York for some ...

.Hale, Robert Beverly, ''Drawing Lessons from the Great Masters''. Watson-Guptill, 1964. Hale joined the staff of the

in New York City in 1948 as the first curator of the department of contemporary American art, a position he held until 1966. Among his other accomplishments, Hale facilitated the Met's acquisition of Jackson Pollock's monumental poured painting '' Autumn Rhythm'', 1950, amid opposition from the museum's trustees. Hale's artwork was featured in one-man shows at the Stamford Museum and at the Staempfli Gallery in New York. In addition to several books on drawing, Hale authored numerous articles, including one on drawing in the ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...

'', and an entry on "The History of American Painting" for the ''Grolier Encyclopaedia''. He also had verse and fiction published in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' and '' Mademoiselle'' magazines. His careers as instructor, curator, and artist were apt to overlap: according to Hale, "One day in East Hampton de Kooning came up to my little studio there and said that I was ruining any number of people by telling them about anatomy".Interview with Robert Beverly Hale
at the Smithsonian Archives of American Art. In 1962 Hale married the former Nike Mylonas, an art historian and a daughter of archeologist George E. Mylonas. The Hales had two children, Alexander Curzon Hale and Evelyn Everett Hale. Hale died on November 14, 1985.

Publications

*''Anatomy Lessons from the Great Masters'' by Robert Beverly Hale and Terence Cole. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 1977. *''Drawing Lessons from the Great Masters'' by Robert Beverly Hale. New York: Wason-Guptill Publications, 1989. *''Artistic Anatomy'' by Dr. Paul Richer, translated by Robert Beverly Hale. New York: Watson Guptill Publications, 1971. *''Master Class in Figure Drawing'' by Robert Beverly Hale and Terence Cole. Watson-Guptill Publications, 1985. (pbK) 0-8230-0224-1

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hale, Robert Beverly American art curators Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation alumni Art Students League of New York alumni Art Students League of New York faculty Columbia University faculty University of Paris alumni 1985 deaths 1901 births 20th-century American writers People associated with the Metropolitan Museum of Art 20th-century American male writers