Background
He is said to have been born at Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, possibly on 25 April 1721, to Samuel and Margaret Wale, though some sources indicate he was born in London.
He is said to have been born at Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, possibly on 25 April 1721, to Samuel and Margaret Wale, though some sources indicate he was born in London.
He then studied drawing under Francis Hayman at the Saint Martin"s Lane academy.
He was first trained in the art of engraving on silver plate. Wale assisted John Gwynn in his architectural drawings, especially in a transverse section of Street Paul"s Cathedral, which was engraved and published in their joint names in 1752. He exhibited drawings of scenes from English history, and occasionally scriptural subjects, described as designs for altar-pieces, from 1769 to 1778, when he suffered from a paralytic stroke, and he was placed on the Royal Academy pension fund, the first member who benefited by lieutenant
He continued to hold the professorship of perspective, though he gave private instruction at his own house instead of lecturing.
And in 1782, on the death of Richard Wilson, he became librarian. He held both offices until his death on 6 February 1786.
He was buried in Saint Martin-in-the-Fields. His portrait appears in Johann Zoffany"s picture of the Royal Academy in 1772, engraved by Richard Earlom.
He became one of the original members of the Society of Artists of Great Britain in 1765 and of the Royal Academy in 1768, and was the first professor of perspective to the Academy.