Lilian Westcott Hale

In his book, The Boston Painters, R. H. Ives Gammell says "She had a flair for picking the revealing gesture which expressed her sitter and then offsetting its dominant lines with aptly chosen surroundings so as to create a tapestry of shapes and colors which enchant the eye.

Her portraits charm us as decorative wall hangings in the same degree that they fascinate as revelations of character.

"[6] And in a review in the Boston Globe of an exhibit that included some of her works, Christine Temin stated, "Her drawings are veiled in a soft haze, the product of a technique based on thousands of wispy vertical strokes.

While other figures in this show trumpet their importance, gazing assertively at the viewer, the women in Hale's drawings are caught in intimate, contemplative moments.

And while other interiors in the show are stuffed with Oriental porcelain and fine antiques, Hale's untitled 1930 room featuring a multi-paned window casting geometric shadows on the floor, has a Shaker simplicity.