JOHN HALEY: 1905-1991
A feature of the artwork of John Charles Haley is diversity. Through his continual exploration of divergent styles and media his artwork remained wonderfully fresh and innovative. Naturally, several labels were attributed to his work – figurative, modernist, abstract expressionist – all of which displeased Haley. At the same time, he was lauded as “one of those who have brought West Coast painting to maturity.” A native of Minnesota, Haley initially studied at the Minneapolis School of Art where he received training in the academic manner. An astute and talented student, he received an award that enabled him to study in Munich with the German modernist master, Hans Hofmann. Haley quickly absorbed the master’s cubist forms, soon establishing himself as one of Hofmann’s most outstanding students.
By 1930, Haley was hired as art instructor at the University of California at Berkeley where he became distinguished for promoting Hofmann’s modernist ideas. Alfred Frankenstein, who organized John Haley’s solo show at the de Young Museum in 1980, described Haley as the “principal cornerstone of the Berkeley School of Watercolor Painting” – referring to a style founded by Haley during the 1930s. Haley is credited with building one of the strongest art departments in the country at the University of California at Berkeley and influencing generations of artists such as Elmer Bischoff, Paul Wonner and Stephen de Staebler. Haley won numerous awards and prizes for watercolors painted during his early career. With the advent of Surrealism and Abstraction during the post-war years – when many figurative artists were left dangling – Haley promptly responded to this new aesthetic. He reconsidered his figural themes during a five-year period of experimentation; from this period – as his images of the figure became increasingly fragmented and abstracted – Haley produced some of the most pivotal works of his career.
While Haley avoided self-promotion and his work often defied classification, critics cited comparisons to Philip Guston, Dufy and Cezanne. Critic John Koplans has most appropriately described in Artforum, July, 1962: “What is enjoyable about Haley’s work is his deep concern for painting rather than a search for a brand image.” Art was a personal expression for him. His philosophy is perhaps best stated in The Daily Californian in 1933, “Modern art is not a quarrel with tradition. It is tradition expressing itself in a new way.” Through tireless exploration, Haley maintained a fresh vision and response to art through change.
EDUCATION
1923 – 1927 Minneapolis School of Art (affiliated with the Minneapolis Institute of Arts).
Studied with Cameron Booth.
1927 – 1928 Studied with Hans Hofmann at the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Art in Munich,
Germany and at his school at the Island of Capri, Italy.
PROFESSIONAL WORK
1928 – 1930 Instructor, Minneapolis School of Art.
1929 – 1930 Designed and executed stained & leaded glass windows for churches and Mayo Clinic,
Rochester, Minnesota. Studied fresco & egg tempera methods. Studied mosaics in
Ravenna, Italy.
1930 – 1972 Professor of Art, University of California, Berkeley.
1937 Fresco murals: Administration Building, U.S. Coast Guard, Government Island,
Alameda, California.
1939 Dioramas for Pacific House, Golden Gate International Exposition.
1943 – 1945 United States Naval Reserve: Pacific Fleet, Fleet Air Photographer, Group Naval
Aviation Combat Intelligence.
1943 Supervised model making for Office of Civilian Defense. Camouflage course for
architects and engineers, University of California, Berkeley.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS (selected)
2000 Masterpieces from the Estate & Self Portraits, George Krevsky Gallery, San Francisco
1996 Sculpure, George Krevsky Gallery, San Francisco
1995 Works on Paper, George Krevsky Gallery San Francisco
1990 Richmond Museum, Richmond
1989 Jan Holloway Gallery, San Francisco
1974 Four Winds Gallery, Kalamazoo, Missouri
1963 California State University, Chico
1962,’80 M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco
1962 Worth Ryder Art Gallery, University of California, Berkeley
1954 Richmond Art Center, Richmond
1949,’52 Mortimer Levitt Gallery, New York
1943 University Art Gallery, Berkeley
1942 University of California, Los Angeles
1939 Sacramento Art Center, Sacramento
1939 San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco
1935 Art Center Gallery, San Francisco
GROUP EXHIBITIONS (selected)
George Krevsky Gallery, San Francisco (1999)
Richmond Art Center, CA (1974,’67,’66,’58,’55,’54,’51)
Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport, CA (1975)
University Art Museum, Berkeley (1967)
Museum of Modern Art, NY (1963)
California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland (1959)
Oakland Museum, Oakland (1958, ’77)
Sao Paulo Bienniale, Brazil (1955)
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, Philadelphia(1954)
Richmond Art Center, Richmond (1951, ’54, ’55, ’56, ’59, ’66, ’67, ’74, ’77)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY (1950, ’52)
University of Illinois, Urbana, IL (1948, ’51, ’52, ’53)
Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. (1947)
Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO (1946, ’55)
Mortimer Brandt Gallery, NY (1943)
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles (1942, ’65)
University Art Gallery, Berkeley (1943, ’63, ’64, ’65, ’67)
Riverside Museum, NY (1940)
Chicago Art Institute (1940)
Golden Gate International Exposition (1939)
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (1935,’38,’41,’44,’48,’56,’62)
California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco (1935, ’47, ’48, ’50, ’60, ’63, ’64,’67)
M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco (1934, ’57,’58)
San Francisco Art Association (1931,’36, ’37, ’40, ’41, ’44, ’46, ’48, ’50, ’51, ’52, ’55, ’56, ’57, ’59, ’60)
Minneapolis Institute of Arts (1926,’27)
COLLECTIONS (selected)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco
Mills College, Oakland, CA
Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA
Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.
University of California, Berkeley, CA
California State University, Chico, CA
Huntington Art Collections, San Marino, CA
IBM Corporation