1876 - 1958
Hayley Lever seemed to have been somewhat vague in giving the details of his early life. His birth date is variously given as 1875 or 1876, although consensus accepts the latter. He finished secondary school in Adelaide, attending the private Prince Alfred College, and then in 1893 or 1899 went to England. He spent some time studying in London, but fairly soon moved on to the artists' colony at St. Ives on the coast of Cornwall. There he studied with Algernon Talmadge and Julius Ollson. He also visited the northern coast of France in pursuit of subjects, and traveled further into Europe. Experience of the work of Vincent Van Gogh in 1908 made a profound and lasting impression on his work. Lever had exhibited widely in England and on the continent by 1910; his St. Ives paintings, in particular, quickly brought him recognition, as demonstrated by his election to membership in the Royal West of England Academy, the Royal Academy and the Society of Royal British Artists.
At St. Ives Lever had become friends with Elmer Schofield, Paul Dougherty, and Ernest Lawson. On their advice he emigrated to America in 1911, settling in New York. He became an American citizen just two years later. Again, success came quickly to Lever. In addition to participating in the standard national and international annuals, in 1914 he had one man shows at the museums in Rochester and Syracuse, New York In 1915 he had another at the Macbeth Gallery in New York. Lever made his debut in an Academy annual exhibition the next year, and continued a faithful participant in Academy shows throughout his life. He received the Carnegie prize in the Winter exhibition of 1914, and Palmer prizes in 1936 and in 1938. Within a few years of arriving in the city, Lever was one of the most widely shown artists in New York, not affiliating himself with one gallery.
Lever taught summer classes--and painted--in Gloucester, Massachusetts, for the first time in 1915; Gloucester would remain a major source of subject matter into the mid-1930s. He began teaching at the Art Students League in 1919, and remained associated with the school to 1931. In 1918, with Robert Henri, George Bellows, and John Sloan, he was a founder of the New Society of Artists.
The Depression hit Lever especially hard; his work suffered an eclipse in popular taste, as well as the inevitable falling off in sales. He moved in this period to Caldwell, New Jersey, and at the end of the decade to Mount Vernon, New York. He became director of the Studio Art Club of Mount Vernon in 1940, and held that position until 1954, when crippling arthritis combined with financial distress forced his confinement in a home for the aged. There he continued to paint, concentrating on the subject model available in the circumstances: still life.
RP
At St. Ives Lever had become friends with Elmer Schofield, Paul Dougherty, and Ernest Lawson. On their advice he emigrated to America in 1911, settling in New York. He became an American citizen just two years later. Again, success came quickly to Lever. In addition to participating in the standard national and international annuals, in 1914 he had one man shows at the museums in Rochester and Syracuse, New York In 1915 he had another at the Macbeth Gallery in New York. Lever made his debut in an Academy annual exhibition the next year, and continued a faithful participant in Academy shows throughout his life. He received the Carnegie prize in the Winter exhibition of 1914, and Palmer prizes in 1936 and in 1938. Within a few years of arriving in the city, Lever was one of the most widely shown artists in New York, not affiliating himself with one gallery.
Lever taught summer classes--and painted--in Gloucester, Massachusetts, for the first time in 1915; Gloucester would remain a major source of subject matter into the mid-1930s. He began teaching at the Art Students League in 1919, and remained associated with the school to 1931. In 1918, with Robert Henri, George Bellows, and John Sloan, he was a founder of the New Society of Artists.
The Depression hit Lever especially hard; his work suffered an eclipse in popular taste, as well as the inevitable falling off in sales. He moved in this period to Caldwell, New Jersey, and at the end of the decade to Mount Vernon, New York. He became director of the Studio Art Club of Mount Vernon in 1940, and held that position until 1954, when crippling arthritis combined with financial distress forced his confinement in a home for the aged. There he continued to paint, concentrating on the subject model available in the circumstances: still life.
RP
