HALL, Lee 1934-

PERSONAL: Born December 15, 1934, in Lexington, NC; daughter of Robert Lee and Florence Fitzgerald. Ethnicity: "Caucasian." Education: University of North Carolina, B.F.A., 1955; New York University, M.A., 1959, Ph.D. (with honors), 1965; Warburg Institute (London, England), graduate study, 1965.

ADDRESSES: Home—14 Silverwood Terr., South Hadley, MA 01075; fax: 413-493-7826. E-mail— [email protected].

CAREER: State University of New York College—Potsdam, Potsdam, NY, assistant professor of art, 1958-60; Keuka College, Keuka Park, NY, associate professor of art and department chair, 1960-62; Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC, associate professor of art, 1962-65; Drew University, Madison, NJ, assistant professor, 1965-67, associate professor, 1967-70, professor of art, 1970-74, department chair, 1965-74; State University of New York College—Purchase, dean of visual arts, 1974-75; Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, president, 1975-83; Academy for Educational Development, New York, NY, senior vice president and director of arts and communications, 1984-92. National Endowment for the Humanities, consultant, 1969-75, panelist, 1972-80.

MEMBER: PEN, National Arts Club, Cosmopolitan Club.

AWARDS, HONORS: Research grants, American Philosophical Society, 1965, 1968; D.F.A., University of North Carolina—Greensboro, 1976; Childe Hassam Purchase Award, American Academy Arts and Letters, 1977; Athena Medal, Rhode Island School of Design, 1983.

WRITINGS:

Wallace Herndon Smith: Paintings, University of Washington Press (Seattle, WA), 1987.

Abe Ajay, University of Washington Press (Seattle, WA), 1990.

Betty Parsons: Artist, Dealer, Collector, H. N. Abrams (New York, NY), 1991.

Common Threads: A Parade of American Clothing, Bulfinch Press (Boston, MA), 1992.

Elaine and Bill, Portrait of a Marriage: The Lives of Willem and Elaine de Kooning, Harper (New York, NY), 1993.

Olmsted's America: An "Unpractical Man" and His Vision of Civilization, Bulfinch Press (Boston, MA), 1995.

Athena, Addison-Wesley (Reading, MA), 1997.

(Author of text) Living in the Future: International House, New York; Seventy-five Years, International House (New York, NY), 2000.

Contributor to professional journals, including Art and Sexual Politics and Craft Horizons.

SIDELIGHTS: Lee Hall is perhaps best known for her continuing efforts "to introduce readers to undervalued American artists," according to a reviewer in Choice. As a biographer, she has often explored how the beliefs and social values of the artist contribute to his or her work.

Hall's biography of Frederick Law Olmsted, Olmsted's America: An "Unpractical Man" and His Vision of Civilization, received favor for its attention to the architect's beliefs and reasonings. According to Susan Salter Reynolds of the Los Angeles Times Book Review, "Olmsted's America neatly traces the evolution of Olmsted's thinking." Another critic, writing for Publishers Weekly, praised Olmsted's America for its thoroughness, noting how Hall "deftly provides the full social context in which Olmsted worked." William Huchting, a contributor to Booklist, remarked that the book possessed "narrative flair, fluid interpretation, and a superb set of illustrations."

Hall also highlighted the interplay of art and politics in many of her other biographies, including Abe Ajay and Betty Parsons: Artist, Dealer, Collector. Choice reviewer G. A. Anderson deemed Abe Ajay a "discerning study" and "affectionate examination." A Publishers Weekly reviewer remarked that the "richly illustrated" Betty Parsons "captures Parsons's many-faceted, whirlwind life."

In Elaine and Bill, Portrait of a Marriage: The Lives of Willem and Elaine de Kooning, Hall appeared to change her tone and direction. This work focused more on the day-to-day trials and adventures of the artistic couple. Hall's approach received mixed reviews. In a Los Angeles Times Book Review, Eleanor Munro remarked, "Hall's real obsession is with power wielded by a woman over men, ordinarily a cliche of anti-feminist tracts." David Anfam of the Spectator voiced a similar opinion, stating that Elaine and Bill possesses "two principal characters who ultimately emerge against the grain of the author's imagination." However, Jane Mendelsohn of the Village Voice had only praise for Elaine and Bill. She wrote, "Lee Hall tells the story of this turbulent couple and paints a picture as grisly and beautiful as any de Kooning."

Hall explored the art and politics of the American fashion industry in Common Threads: A Parade of American Clothing. One of Hall's earlier works, it "links dress inextricably to historic, social, political, economic, religious, and industrial forces," wrote M. F. Morris in Choice. Here she couples art (clothing and style) to the ideas and social values of the artist (the American public who set the style of the times). Writing in the Library Journal, Vicki Gadberry had similar praise for Common Threads, calling it an "informative and well-illustrated history" which details the "factors behind the changes and the roles of clothing." Even when not writing about people, Hall illustrates the importance of looking at art through the lens of the social and political leanings of the artist.

Athena recounts the mythical lore of a goddess whose wisdom was achieved, not inherited. According to a reviewer for Kirkus Reviews, Athena is transformed, in this legend, from a wily and venomous young goddess to the lovely, wise, and just luminary of readers' indulgent imaginings. "Hall contributes her own novelistic flair in the vivid retellings," the Kirkus Reviews contributor stated. And the various anecdotes surrounding the goddess's emergence, the reviewer noted, are equally "fresh and revealing," such as "how Hera's breast spewed out the Milky Way." Hall, the critic concluded, "leaves one wanting to reread the ancients and think again about the gods."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, June 1 and 15, 1995, William Huchting, review of Olmsted's America: An "Unpractical Man" and His Vision of Civilization, pp. 1714-1715.

Choice, September, 1990, G. A. Anderson, review of Abe Ajay; April, 1993, M. F. Morris, review of Common Threads: A Parade of American Clothing, pp. 1377-1378.

Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 1993; March 1, 1997, review of Athena.

Library Journal, January, 1993, Vicki Gadberry, review of Common Threads, p. 110.

Los Angeles Times Book Review, July 18, 1993, Eleanor Munro, review of Elaine and Bill, Portrait of a Marriage: The Lives of Willem and Elaine de Kooning, pp. 2, 11; June 25, 1995, Susan Salter Reynolds, review of Olmsted's America, p. 6.

Newsweek, July 5, 1993, p. 55.

New York Times Book Review, August 1, 1993, p. 24.

Publishers Weekly, March 29, 1991, review of Betty Parsons: Artist, Dealer, Collector, p. 83; May 8, 1995, review of Olmsted's America, p. 281.

Spectator, March 25, 1995, David Anfam, review of Elaine and Bill, Portrait of a Marriage, p. 33.

Times Literary Supplement, March 10, 1995, p. 20.

Village Voice, August 10, 1993, Jane Mendelsohn, review of Elaine and Bill, Portrait of a Marriage, p. 38.