Terence Coyle

Terence Coyle, American Realist, died on April 6, 2020 after a brief bout with Co-Vid-19 in New York City. A master painter of Oil, Watercolor and printmaker, he loved painting his environs and the people within.


He was born in Williamstown, MA and also raised in Vermont where he became an avid skier. His parents were Ted and Leona Eichelser Coyle. They felt impelled to send their rebellious teen-ager to live with his Aunt Marie Eichelsor who was secretary to Dr. Abraham Flexner, director of the National Institute of Advanced Studies in Princeton, NJ. There he met Albert Einstein and other science luminaries.


After he graduated from Princeton High School, because of World War II, he joined the US Army Air Force in 1944. In 1945, he flew one mission in a B24 Liberator Bomber as tail gunner over Salzbutg, Austria, targeting the rail yards. He told of when he was in the sky, he saw hundreds of black dots over them. They were the RAF planes on their way to bomb Berchtesgade, Hitler's hideout.


He then migrated to New York City and attended Columbia University and the Art Students League of NY. It was at the League that he committed to paint for the rest of his life. His studios included one at Carnegie Hall for many years, and later, a studio on Union Square. He also worked in his studio near his country home in Great Barrington, MA. His countryside landscapes were mostly plein-air paintings.


For 37 years, he was an instructor at the Art Students League of NY,, wherein, he held Master Classes in oil, watercolor painting and artistic anatomy and also lectured at the National Academy of Art and Design. In the 1980's, he co-authored with Robert Beverly Hale two best-selling books on Figure Drawing. His affable manner and his fierce dedication to Art endeared him to his students. He maintained that no matter which style artists may choose to express themselves, it is imperative to learn the knowledge of drawing the human figure and to always apply the Basic Principles and Elements of Design.,


His paintings and drawings are in American M museums and have been at Sothebys and Christies. His works are also in many notable private collections including those of: Thyssen-Bornemisza, Ms. Helen Hayes, former first lady of the of the American Theater, Dr. and Mrs. Howard and Yolanda Freeze and Mr. and Mrs. Richard and Patricia Wecker.


He is survived in loving memory by his wife, Anne Costello Coyle whom he married in 1975 and by the Costello families and those of his late sisters and brother: Alice Trzcinka, Mary Carlotta and Eugene Coyle.