Richard Hayley Lever (28 September 1876 – 6 December 1958) was an Australian-American painter, etcher, lecturer and art teacher. His work was part of the art competitions at the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ( nl, Spelen van de IXe Olympiade) and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated fro ...

and the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held duri ...

Life and work

Lever was born in

Bowden, South Australia Bowden () is an inner northern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the City of Charles Sturt. History The 'Village of Bowden' was established in 1839 by James Hurtle Fisher, who named it after his native village in Northampto ...

on 28 September 1875, the son of Albion W. Lever. He excelled in painting classes at

Prince Alfred College , motto_translation = Do Brave Deeds and Endure , established = 1869 , type = Independent, single-sex, day & boarding , headmaster = David Roberts , chaplain = Reverend ...

under James Ashton and on leaving school continued to study under Ashton at his Norwood art school. He was a charter member of the

Adelaide Easel Club The Adelaide Easel Club was a society for South Australian painters which broke away from the South Australian Society of Arts in 1892 and which re-merged with the parent organization in 1901. History The club was founded in November 1892 when a g ...

in 1892. Lever's maternal grandfather Richard Hayley, owner of Bowden Tannery, died in 1882, and the subsequent inheritance was sufficient for Lever to finance a trip to England in 1899 to further his career in painting. He moved to St. Ives, a fishing port and artistic colony on the Cornish coast. The town's reputation as a centre for marine painting was largely due to Julius Olsson, who became a prominent

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

seascape painter. In St. Ives, Lever shared a studio with Frederick Judd Waugh, and studied painting techniques under the Impressionists Olsson and

Algernon Talmage Algernon Mayow Talmage (23 February 1871– 14 September 1939) was a British Impressionist painter. Life and Education Algernon Talmage was born in Fifield, Oxfordshire, the son of Rev. John Mayow Talmage, a clergyman of Cornish stock ...

. Lever also painted in the French port villages of

Douarnenez Douarnenez (, ; meaning ''douar'' (land) ''an enez'' (the island) or land of the island), is a commune in the French department of Finistère, region of Brittany, northwestern France. It is located at the mouth of the Pouldavid River, an estua ...

and

Concarneau Concarneau (, meaning ''Bay of Cornouaille'') is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. Concarneau is bordered to the west by the Baie de La Forêt. The town has two distinct areas: the modern town on the ...

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

, directly across the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" ( Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), ( Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Ka ...

from St. Ives. In late 1904 Lever made a trip back to

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, where his mother was dying of tuberculosis. During his twelve-month stay he staged several exhibitions, painted seascapes and taught. In 1906, upon returning to Europe, he married Aida Smith Gale in St. Ives' Parish Church. In 1908, Lever did a series of paintings called ''Van Gogh's Hospital, Holland'' expressing the profound influence he felt from that artist. In 1911,

Ernest Lawson Ernest Lawson (March 22, 1873 – December 18, 1939) was a Canadian-American painter and exhibited his work at the Canadian Art Club and as a member of the American group The Eight, artists who formed a loose association in 1908 to protest ...

, an Impressionist painter, persuaded Lever to move to United States, saying he would have greater success there. Lever arrived in New York City in 1912 and painted views of the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...

and

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...

. Upon discovering the American east coast, he painted in

Gloucester, Massachusetts Gloucester () is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It sits on Cape Ann and is a part of Massachusetts's North Shore. The population was 29,729 at the 2020 U.S. Census. An important center of the fishing industry and a ...

for several summers and at

Marblehead, Massachusetts Marblehead is a coastal New England town in Essex County, Massachusetts, along the North Shore. Its population was 20,441 at the 2020 census. The town lies on a small peninsula that extends into the northern part of Massachusetts Bay. Attache ...

. Both artists developed spontaneous, bold painting styles, and Lever was accepted into Lawson's circle of friends:

Robert Henri Robert Henri (; June 24, 1865 – July 12, 1929) was an American painter and teacher. As a young man, he studied in Paris, where he identified strongly with the Impressionists, and determined to lead an even more dramatic revolt against A ...

William Glackens William James Glackens (March 13, 1870 – May 22, 1938) was an American realist painter and one of the founders of the Ashcan School, which rejected the formal boundaries of artistic beauty laid-down by the conservative National Academy of De ...

John Sloan John French Sloan (August 2, 1871 – September 7, 1951) was an American painter and etcher. He is considered to be one of the founders of the Ashcan school of American art. He was also a member of the group known as The Eight. He is best known ...

and

George Bellows George Wesley Bellows (August 12 or August 19, 1882 – January 8, 1925) was an American realist painter, known for his bold depictions of urban life in New York City. He became, according to the Columbus Museum of Art, "the most acclaimed Ame ...

. He exhibited with this group regularly, but eventually left New York to settle in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

. From 1919 to 1931, Lever taught art classes at the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may st ...

where he maintained a Gloucester studio and often traveled to paint on Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. He offered this message to his students: "Art is the re-creation of mood in line, form and color. If I were confined to my own back yard for the rest of my life, I'd still have more pictures in my mind than I would have time to paint. Art is nothing but having a good time." Lever went to Pittsburgh in 1922 as an art juror for the Carnegie International exhibition. In 1924, Lever was commissioned to paint
portrait
of the presidential yacht, , which was subsequently presented to President

Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a Republican lawyer from New England who climbed up the ladder of Ma ...

in the Cabinet Room of the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

. By 1930, Lever had moved to

Caldwell, New Jersey Caldwell is a borough located in northwestern Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, about west of New York City and north-west of Newark, the state's most populous city. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's populati ...

, staying there until 1938, when he moved to Mount Vernon, New York. While living in New York, Lever painted marines and landscapes in New Jersey, New England, New York and the

Canadian Maritimes The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% o ...

. Throughout his life, he traveled and painted extensively, including

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

and

Grand Manan Island Grand Manan is a Canadian island in the Bay of Fundy. Grand Manan is also the name of an incorporated village, which includes the main island and all of its adjacent islands, except White Head Island. It is governed as a village and is part of t ...

in Canada,

The Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the a ...

and

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

, while often returning to Europe. In 1933, Hayley was named Director of the Green Mountains summer art school at Smugglers Notch in Stowe, Vermont. Lever also taught painting classes at the Forum School of Art in Bronxville, New York from 1934 to 1935. In later life, Lever was inflicted with

arthritis Arthritis is a term often used to mean any disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, swelling, and decreased range of motion of the affected joints. In som ...

in his right hand, which prevented him from further travel and forced him to concentrate on still-life subjects instead. As his

advanced, he taught himself to paint with his left hand. However, following the death of his wife Aida in 1949, Lever was confined to his home, where he continued to paint from 1953 until his death. Hayley Lever died on 6 December 1958 at his home in Mount Vernon, New York. News of his death surprised some: Lever had all but disappeared from public view over two decades earlier, despite once having been enormously popular and critically acclaimed. Even so, he had continued to paint in the intervening years to such a degree that colleagues and dealers alike were confounded by the cache of unsold, and largely unseen, paintings in his Mount Vernon barn. Since his death, he has been recognized as one of the leaders of

American Impressionism American Impressionism was a style of painting related to European Impressionism and practiced by American artists in the United States from the mid-nineteenth century through the beginning of the twentieth. The style is characterized by loose ...

in the 20th century.St. Petersburg Times
– 12 October 1961, P12A

Displayed works/exhibitions

Displayed works

The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
* Baltimore Museum of Art
Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan
* The Montclair Art Museum, New Jersey
The Brooklyn Museum of Art
* The Nantucket Historical Association, Massachusetts * New Britain Museum of Art, Connecticut * Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. *Dallas Museum of Art
The Wichita Art Museum
*Des Moines Art Museum *Fort Worth Museum of Art *L.A. County Museum of Art
The Westmoreland Museum of American Art
*Telfair Academy *National Arts Club *National Academy of Design *Memphis Art Museum; Australia Art Museum *Cincinnati Art Museum
The Addison Gallery of American Art
*Sydney Art Gallery of Australia *

Art Gallery of South Australia The Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), established as the National Gallery of South Australia in 1881, is located in Adelaide. It is the most significant visual arts museum in the Australian state of South Australia. It has a collection of ...

(one work only – The last glow, St. Ives fishing fleet)

Exhibitions

Memberships

* National Academy of Design *

National Arts Club The National Arts Club is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and members club on Gramercy Park, Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 1898 by Charles DeKay, an art and literary critic of the ''New York Times'' to "stimulate, foster, and promote publ ...

* New Society of Artists *

Royal Society of British Artists The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy. History The RBA commenced with twenty-seven members, and took until 1876 to reach fif ...

* Royal Institute of Oil Painters *

Royal West of England Academy The Royal West of England Academy (RWA) is Bristol's oldest art gallery, located in Clifton, Bristol, near the junction of Queens Road and Whiteladies Road. Situated in a Grade 2* listed building, it hosts five galleries and an exhibition progra ...

References

*''Shadowland Magazine'', November 1922. "Hayley Lever, Individualist (The artist who believes that man may draw inspiration from all sources, but that the only deadly sin is imitation)" by

Holger Cahill Edgar Holger Cahill (January 13, 1887 – July 8, 1960) was an Icelandic-American curator, writer, and arts administrator who served as the national director of the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration during the New Deal in th ...

. p. 11, 77 *''Art & Antiques'', 2003 March, Gallery Watch *
American Art Review
', 1996 March, Valley of Work: Scenes of Industry
Hayley Lever
Carol Lowrey, Spanierman Gallery, New York: 2003
Hayley Lever
1876–1958 : works in various media : an exhibition at the Delaware Art Museum, 23 June – 13 August 1978. *Falk, Peter H., ''Who Was Who In American Art''. Madison, Connecticut: Sound View Press, 1985. p. 368.

Notes

External links

The Getty Museum Union list of Artist namesHayley Lever examples on AskArt.com

"The Exhibition"
1905 article from ''The Advertiser'', Adelaide, 22 March 1905.
Three Lever exhibition catalogs
from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lever, Hayley 1875 births 1958 deaths 20th-century American painters American male painters American Impressionist painters American landscape painters Australian emigrants to England Australian emigrants to the United States Australian painters Cityscape artists Members of the Royal West of England Academy Modern painters National Academy of Design members Artists from Adelaide Members of the Royal Society of British Artists Olympic competitors in art competitions 20th-century American male artists