John Hayes (art historian)

John Trevor Hayes CBE FRSA (21 January 1929 – 25 December 2005) was a British art historian and museum director.

Taking advantage of a Commonwealth Fund fellowship, he travelled to the United States and spent a year as a Research Scholar at the New York University Institute of Fine Arts from 1958 to 1959.

The duties that came with the NPG directorship did not curtail Hayes's scholarly activities, however, and during his tenure he managed to curate a major Gainsborough exhibition at the Tate and the Grand Palais, Paris), and numerous smaller ones, including one of Graham Sutherland's work.

Plans to move the institution to larger premises in London were never realised, although a new block for staff was built across the road from the Gallery's Victorian building.

After his retirement in 1994, Hayes continued in his scholarly work, curating a further Gainsborough exhibition in Ferrara and serving as vice-president of the Walpole Society.