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He was born in Bristol but spent his youth and early life in Dublin where his father, Charles, kept the Bristol and Glasgow Hotel and Tavern in Marlborough Street. He was a student at the Dublin Society's Schools and from the very first his ambition was to be a marine painter. The proximity of his home to the quays and the docks no doubt gave him his love for the sea and shipping. He made the sea his studio and in a small ten-ton yacht he spent his time sailing about Dublin Bay and even as far south as Cork. To experience something more of a sailor's life he shipped as a steward's boy on board a vessel bound for America. He had rough experiences at sea taking his turn at the pumps. Such early experiences stood him in good stead in his future art, enabling him in his pictures to delineate the sea and shipping with a sincerity born of experience. He first exhibited at the Royal Hibernian Academy in 1842 and for the next ten years resided in Dublin practising his art. In 1852 he removed to London where he apprenticed himself to Telbin, the scene painter. His first venture as an exhibitor in London was at the British Institution in 1854, where he showed "View of the River Liffey and the Custom House". In the following year he exhibited at the Royal Academy, continuing to do so for forty-nine years. He also exhibited at the Society of British Artists and at the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours, of which he became an Associate in 1860 and a Member in 1863. He continued to contribute to the Royal Hibernian Academy and was elected as Associate in 1853 and as Member in 1871. Hayes painted the shores and harbours of the English coast, the south coast fishing boats and French and Dutch luggers. His visits to the coasts of France, Spain and Italy yielded him many subjects. His knowledge of the sea enabled him to paint it in all its moods and to put on canvas the ever-changing aspects of sky and ocean. |
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