Lot 132: 1938 WILLIAM MELTON HALSEY NUDE DANCERS

William Melton Halsey (South Carolina, 1915-1999) "Nude Dancers" Gouache / Casein on paper. Signed and dated 1938 lower left. Sight 22"h, 13"w. Professionally framed and matted. In frame 28 1/4"x35"x1 1/4". Weight 13 pds. PROVENANCE: A Charleston SC Private Estate. William Melton Halsey was born and raised in Charleston, SC. His talent was evident at an early age, and he was encouraged by his mother, Eleanor Loeb Halsey. His first instructor was the local artist Elizabeth O'Neill Verner, who had studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and was one of the leading artists in the Charleston Renaissance. Another early influence was the local Charleston artist Edward I. R. Jennings, who had studied in New York City with Arthur Wesley Dow. It was from Jennings that the young Halsey learned about what was happening in the realm of modern art. After high school Halsey attended the University of South Carolina for two years. Realizing he was only interested in art, he sought another place to study where he could maintain his singular focus. He moved to Boston to study at the Boston Museum School (now called the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston). While there, he developed an interest in fresco and became sufficiently trained to be able to teach this technique at the school. He attended the school from 1935–1939. Halsey remained an eminent and influential art teacher in the Lowcountry, beginning with his early activity at Savannah's Telfair Academy and continuing at the Gibbes from 1945 to 1953. He subsequently co-founded the Charleston Art School with McCallum and Willard Hirsch in 1953. From 1965 until his retirement in 1984, he taught at the College of Charleston and was instrumental in developing the studio art department there. The Halsey Gallery and The Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art at the College of Charleston School of the Arts are named in his honor.

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