Lilian Hale

American painter Lilian Westcott Hale was the wife of Philip Hale, whom she married in 1902. Their daughter, Nancy (1909-88), went on to become a noted writer and editor. Lilian was a painter of impressionistic style and very closely associated with the Boston School of American Impressionists. She studied at the Hartford Art School and the School of Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, where she met her future husband. She mainly produced still-lifes and landscapes, but is perhaps best known for her portraiture of Boston’s society women.

Hale quickly became a recognized portrait painter and opened a studio in Boston. After moving to Dedham, Massachusetts, she painted mainly scenes of the home and garden, often with children, in the Impressionist style. Later she returned to portraits and became one of the most famous American painters.

She was the first woman to win the esteemed Altman Prize from the National Academy of Design for her life-size (2.39 x 1.50 m) Portrait of Taylor Scott Hardin in Riding Clothes dated 1927, showing her son-in-law in oil on canvas. Today, the painting is in a private collection. After her husband’s death, Hale temporarily gave up painting and later never regained her former quality. During a visit to her sister, she died of a heart attack.