Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 11, 2026

Channing Hare

Channing Weir Hare (1899–1976) was an American painter. He was born in New York and lived in Ogunquit, Maine and Palm Beach, Florida, where he was best known for his portraiture. He painted portraits of several notable public figures, including Cy Twombly, Booth Tarkington, Sally Rand, and Alexander Woollcott. Some of his other work was markedly influenced by the Surrealist movement. It has been suggested that the surrealist motifs in Hare's painting helped him to express himself as a gay man at a time when LGBTQ identities were marginalized.

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Channing Hare
Born1899 (1899)
Died1976 (aged 76–77)
Known forPainting
Notable workPortrait of a Woman, The End of Summer, Anita, The Grey Rose
StylePortraiture
MovementRealism, Surrealism
PartnerMountfort Coolidge

Channing Weir Hare (1899–1976) was an American painter. He was born in New York and lived in Ogunquit, Maine and Palm Beach, Florida, where he was best known for his portraiture.123 He painted portraits of several notable public figures, including Cy Twombly, Booth Tarkington, Sally Rand, and Alexander Woollcott.45 Some of his other work was markedly influenced by the Surrealist movement.6 It has been suggested that the surrealist motifs in Hare's painting helped him to express himself as a gay man at a time when LGBTQ identities were marginalized.67

Hare was a member of the Art Students League, where he studied under Robert Henri, George Bellows, and William Zorach.31 He later exhibited work at several distinguished galleries in New York (including the Metropolitan Museum of Art); Washington, D.C.; Pennsylvania; Florida; and elsewhere.128 In 2000, Yale University's Jonathan Edwards College included work by Hare in an exhibition titled Private Realisms: American Paintings 1934-1949.9 Works by Hare are held by the Ogunquit Museum of American Art, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the Figge Art Museum.10111213 Photographs of Hare are held by the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the RISD Museum.141516

Personal life

Hare had an intimate lifelong relationship with the painter Mountfort Coolidge until the latter's death in 1954.1718 In 1920, the two opened a small antique shop together in Ogunquit.19

Hare and Coolidge were also charitable and went on to donate several works of historical art to different museums, including two ancient Roman paintings currently held by the Worcester Art Museum;2021 the Bennington Museum holds a collection of historical glassware and other objects of decorative art called the Channing Hare-Mountfort Coolidge Collection.2223 Hare himself donated several items that are currently held by Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.24252627

Hare also adopted the American painter Stephen Hopkins Hensel.7

References

References

  1. "Channing Hare, 76, Painter Of Portraits and Still-Lifes". The New York Times. 14 February 1976. p. 28.
  2. "The End of Summer, Channing Hare ["About the Artist"]". Ogunquit Museum of American Art.
  3. Newport Art Museum, ed. (2000). Newportraits. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England. p. 307. ISBN 978-1584650188.
  4. Rivkin, Joshua (2018). Chalk: The Art and Erasure of Cy Twombly. Melville House. pp. 11–12. ISBN 9781612197180.
  5. "Adroit Portraits by Hare". The Art Digest. Vol. 7, no. 6. 15 December 1937. pp. 18–19.
  6. "Portrait of a Woman, Channing Hare ["Description"]". Ogunquit Museum of American Art.
  7. "Art review: Portland, Ogunquit museums give collections contemporary context". Portland Press Herald. 2023-06-25.
  8. "Pittsburgh International Exhibition of Paintings". Carnegie Museum of Art. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
  9. "JE exhibit showcases work of American 'realist' painters". Yale Bulletin and Calendar. 29 (3). 22 September 2000.
  10. "Portrait of a Woman, Channing Hare". Ogunquit Museum of American Art.
  11. "The End of Summer, Channing Hare". Ogunquit Museum of American Art.
  12. "Channing Hare, "Anita" (1948)". Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. 2014-12-28.
  13. "The Grey Rose". Figge Art Museum Collection Online. Retrieved 2024-12-22.
  14. "Channing Hare photograph / (photographed by Peter A. Juley & Son)". The Smithsonian Institution.
  15. "Portrait of Channing Hare from the album "Down East"". collections.mfa.org.
  16. "Portrait of Channing Hare". RISD Museum.
  17. "The End of Summer, Channing Hare ["Description"]". Ogunquit Museum of American Art.
  18. "Objects of Our Affection: The Rising Moon – The Golden Fleece". January 8, 2021.
  19. Bardwell, John D. (1994). Ogunquit By-The-Sea. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. p. 84. ISBN 9780738588346.
  20. "Mummy Portrait of a Young Man". Worcester Museum. Retrieved 2024-12-22.
  21. "Fayuum Portrait of Woman with Pearl Jewelry". Worcester Museum. Retrieved 2024-12-22.
  22. "Search Results for "Channing Hare-Mountfort Coolidge Collection"". Bennington Museum. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
  23. "Inkwell". Bennington Museum. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
  24. "Screen Decorated with 'Les Jardins Français'". The Smithsonian Institution.
  25. "Birdcage with fishbowl". The Smithsonian Institution.
  26. "Vase". The Smithsonian Institution.
  27. "Shellwork bouquet (coquillage)". The Smithsonian Institution.