American, 1820 - 1906
Ferdinand Thomas Lee Boyle was the son of the British composer John Boyle. He was brought to the United States when he was eight years old and was educated at Columbia College Grammar School and Charles Coudert's boarding school. During the early 1830s Boyle demonstrated a talent in art and, in 1835 his father allowed him to pursue his studies, which he did under tutlage of Henry Inman. In the same year Boyle was admitted to the antique class of the Academy school.
Boyle's work first appeared in an Academy annual exhibition in 1837, and he continued a frequent exhibitor over the next twenty years. Although he essayed historical and religious compositions, Boyle was primarily a portraitist, and highly successful in that specialty.
In 1856 Boyle left New York for St. Louis, Missouri, and soon was engaged in founding the Western Academy of Art there. The venture quickly proved itself successful and in 1858 its first exhibition was opened by the Prince of Wales. As few other portraitists were working in the West, Boyle's career in St. Louis advanced rapidly, and he received commissions for portraits from the leading citizens of Missouri and adjoining states.
Upon the outbreak of the Civil War Boyle joined the Union army; by the end of the war he held the rank of colonel of the 4th Missouri Volunteers. However, Missouri being a "border state," such conspicuously declared Northern sympathies was bound to offend a substanial portion of its citizenry. Boyle's military career cost him the patronage of clients whose allegence had been to the Confederacy, which gave him good reason to resettle in New York in 1865. From that year through 1871, Boyle's portraits were again seen in quantity in Academy annuals.
He began teaching art at the Brooklyn Institute in 1870. Two years later he also became first chairman of the art department at Adelphi Academy, a post he held for three years. His teaching responsibilities apparently were a major preoccupation, as he did not contribute work to an Academy annual for the decade between 1871 and 1881, and showed in only two annuals thereafter, 1884 and 1886.
Boyle's work first appeared in an Academy annual exhibition in 1837, and he continued a frequent exhibitor over the next twenty years. Although he essayed historical and religious compositions, Boyle was primarily a portraitist, and highly successful in that specialty.
In 1856 Boyle left New York for St. Louis, Missouri, and soon was engaged in founding the Western Academy of Art there. The venture quickly proved itself successful and in 1858 its first exhibition was opened by the Prince of Wales. As few other portraitists were working in the West, Boyle's career in St. Louis advanced rapidly, and he received commissions for portraits from the leading citizens of Missouri and adjoining states.
Upon the outbreak of the Civil War Boyle joined the Union army; by the end of the war he held the rank of colonel of the 4th Missouri Volunteers. However, Missouri being a "border state," such conspicuously declared Northern sympathies was bound to offend a substanial portion of its citizenry. Boyle's military career cost him the patronage of clients whose allegence had been to the Confederacy, which gave him good reason to resettle in New York in 1865. From that year through 1871, Boyle's portraits were again seen in quantity in Academy annuals.
He began teaching art at the Brooklyn Institute in 1870. Two years later he also became first chairman of the art department at Adelphi Academy, a post he held for three years. His teaching responsibilities apparently were a major preoccupation, as he did not contribute work to an Academy annual for the decade between 1871 and 1881, and showed in only two annuals thereafter, 1884 and 1886.
