Bernard Corey (1914-2000) is a 20th-century American Impressionist painter. While Corey is identified with the historic Gloucester-Rockport Art Colony, he worked in many locations throughout New England and was associated with the Salmagundi Club in New York City, the Hudson Valley Art Association, the Providence Water Color Club, the Guild of Boston Artists, Allied Artists of America, as well as the Rockport Art Association.
A self-trained artist, Corey worked as a house painter as a young man, his landscape painting remaining a hobby. Then, in the early 1960s, he decided to dedicate himself to art and lived for some time in Rockport, honing his skills in the company of other artists. Throughout his life, Corey was admired by other artists for his dedication to painting on location, for long hours, in all kinds of weather. He went so far as to attach an easel to the dashboard of his car so that he could paint in rain, sleet or snow. His friendships with other artists extended to working together—literally in the field.
His many associates included Marty Ahern, Bob Aiello, T. A. Charron, Bob Duffy, Michael Graves, Emile Gruppe, Bill Heffernan, Aldro Hibbard, John Loughlin, Tom Nicholas, W. Lester Stevens, Don Stone, Paul Strisik, and Stow Wengenroth. Corey continued to paint outdoors well into his eighties, achieving national recognition, and winning hundreds of awards.
Refs.: Bernard Corey, “The World’s At the Tip of My Brush” (Palette Talk, #63, 1985); Charles Movalli, “Bernard Corey on the Spot” (American Artist, August, 1978); The Rockport Art Association, Artists of the Rockport Art Association, A Pictorial Record (1940).
From William R. Talbot Fine Art
