Painter, teacher and writer, Philip Leslie Hale is recognized for his decorative paintings of the female figure and for his interior scenes with figures as well as for his progressive approach to painting. However, his career went through several phases that included sporting scenes, figural studies of women including nudes, portraits, and allegorical works reflecting the overwhelming forces of nature.

Of the Boston painters of his time, he seemed the most fully committed to Impressionism*, and his technique suggests the influence of French impressionist Edgar Degas. In most of his paintings, the landscape was more important than the figure.

He was a prolific writer in local newspapers and periodicals about the contemporary a...