Scott Leighton Art

Scott Leighton (1847–98) was considered a master of equine art. Having started out in the horse trade to support his artistic ambitions, he had intimate knowledge of his subject. Leighton was considered by many to be the “Landseer of the United States,” a reference to the noted British landscape and portrait artist Edwin Henry Landseer.

Leighton’s work was able to reach an even wider audience with the rise in popularity of lithography. Numerous firms transferred his original paintings into mass-marketable prints. However, it was his work with Currier & Ives that brought him the most notice. More than 30 of his paintings were used by these distinguished lithographers to produce memorable prints of trotters Hopeful, Maud S., Smuggler and Edward & Swiveller, among others. Leighton exhibited in the National Academy of Design in 1883, 1886 and 1887. His paintings are in the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Francine Clark Institute and more.