1921-1922New York City-born artists and brothers, Gifford (1874-1956) and Reynolds Beal (1866–1951) came to Rockport.Arts and Culture, Art

The Beals were both students of William Merritt Chase and Robert Henri. Both brothers came from wealth, but only Reynolds benefited. Unfortunately, though he was important in early twentieth-century American impressionism, a debilitating illness in the 1930s curtailed his artmaking.

Gifford Beal had to make a living. He was president of the liberal, non-degreed Art Students League of New York for twelve nonconsecutive years between 1916 and 1930, and taught there in 1931 and 1932.