biography of Reynolds BEAL (1866/67-1951)

Birth place: NYC

Death place: Rockport, MA

Addresses: Rockport, MA

Profession: Painter, etcher

Studied: Cornell Univ., 1885-89 (naval architecture); W.M. Chase at Shinnecock, 1890; ASL

Exhibited: SNBA, 1896; NAD, 1895-1900; PAFA, 1899-1904, 1917, 1922, 1929, 1937; Boston AC, 1899, 1903-09; SC, 1902 (Hurley prize); Clauson Gal., NYC, 1905 (first solo); Corcoran Gal, 1908-21, 1932; AIC; S.Indp.A.; Mus. Luxembourg, Paris, 1919; Memorial Hall, Southampton, 1922 (Tribute to William M. Chase"); Milch Gal., NYC, 1925 (solo); Kraushaar Gal., NYC, 1929, 1934 (solos); North Shore AA, 1929 (prize); Royal Gal., Englewood, NJ, 1969 (solo); Phillips Collection, 1971; Montclair AM, 1972; Hammer Gal., NYC, 1976; El Paso MA, 1976; Vose Gal., Boston, 1916, 1973, 1975, 1983 (all solos); WMAA, 1936"

Member: ANA, 1909; AWCS; Soc. Indep. Artists (founding mem., 1917); SAE; SC; NAC; Lotos Cl.; Century Assn., 1918-1951; New Soc. Artists, NYC (founding mem., 1917); Boston AC.

Comments: The older brother of Gifford Beal. His keen interest in yachting resulted in many maritime paintings, drawings, and etchings from Rockport to the Hudson River to the Caribbean. Beal worked in Provincetown, 1900-19; and in Bermuda in 1922 and 1939-40. He also painted on the West Coast, in Central America, and Portugal, often traveling with his friends, Hassam, E. Lawson, H.D. Murphy, and H.W. Ranger. He is also well known for his circus scenes from the 1910s-20s.

Sources: WW47; exh. cat., Vose Gal., 1983; Campbell, New Hampshire Scenery, 6; Fink, American Art at the Nineteenth-Century Paris Salons, 319; Pisano, The Students of William M. Chase, 10; Provincetown Painters, 140