Skip to main content

William Robinson Leigh Art

American, 1866-1955
William R. Leigh was born in Berkeley County, West Virginia in 1866 and spent his boyhood on a farm. At the age of fourteen he was sent to the Maryland Institute in Baltimore to begin his art training. Although from a very poor family, he managed to spend twelve years in Europe where he studied at the Royal Academy in Munich, Germany. Upon returning to the United States he opened a studio in New York and did illustrations for "Scribner's Magazine". It was not until he was forty years old that he was able to see the West which had occupied his thoughts for such a long time. His bold use of color depicted the clear light and brilliant hues of the West as he saw it. It was during this phase of his career that he came to be known as the "Sagebrush Rembrandt". In 1921 Leigh married Ethel Traphagen, a women's clothing designer, and together they established the successful Traphagen School of Fashion in New York City. In 1926 and 1928 he made two trips to Africa. On these trips he did many paintings of big game, and returning to New York he did the backgrounds for animal habitat groups. He painted in the Southwest nearly every summer between 1912 and 1926. His style was realistic and his palette invariably had the Southwestern hues of soft pinks, reds, yellows and purples. In fact, his critics who knew little of the Southwest accused him of fabricating the colors. He died in 1955.
to
4
3
3
1
1
1
1
New York Street Scene, Collier's Weekly Magazine Story
New York Street Scene, Collier's Weekly Magazine Story

New York Street Scene, Collier's Weekly Magazine Story

By William Robinson Leigh

Located in Fort Washington, PA

Date: 1898 Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 21.00" x 34.00" Signature: Signed Lower Left Exhibited: The Triumph of Winter, National Arts Club, New York, December 16, 2013- January ...

Category

1890s William Robinson Leigh Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

'Foul Rope (Left)' — Early American Southwest Rodeo
'Foul Rope (Left)' — Early American Southwest Rodeo

'Foul Rope (Left)' — Early American Southwest Rodeo

By William Robinson Leigh

Located in Myrtle Beach, SC

William Robinson Leigh, 'Foul Rope (Left)', etching, c. 1920, edition unknown but small. Signed in pencil and signed in the plate, lower left. A superb, richly-inked impression, in dark brown ink, on buff wove Umbria paper, the full sheet with margins (1 1/2 to 2 3/4 inches); slight toning at the sheet edges, otherwise in excellent condition. Very scarce. Archivally matted to museum standards, unframed. Image size 14 7/8 x 11 15/16 inches (378 x 303 mm); sheet size 20 3/8 x 15 3/8 inches (518 x 391 mm). ABOUT THE ARTIST Born near Falling Waters, West Virginia, on a plantation a year after the Civil War and raised in Baltimore, William Robinson Leigh (1866 - 1955) became one of the foremost painters of the American West. His career spanning some seventy-five years, Leigh created some of the most iconic depictions of the Western landscape, with admirers referring to him as ‘The Sagebrush Rembrandt.’ The son of impoverished Southern aristocrats, Leigh received his first art training at age 14 from Hugh Newell at the Maryland Institute, where he was regarded as the best student in his class. From 1883 to 1895, he studied in Europe, mainly at the Royal Academy in Munich with Ludwig Loefftz. From 1891 to 1896, he painted six cycloramas or murals in the round, a giant German panorama. In 1896, Leigh began working as a magazine illustrator for Scribner's and Collier's Weekly Magazine in New York City. He also painted portraits, landscapes, and genre scenes. Leigh's trips to the Southwest began in 1906 when he agreed to paint the Grand Canyon with William Simpson, Santa Fe Railway advertising manager, in exchange for free transportation West. In 1907, he completed his Grand Canyon painting, which led to more commissions and an extensive painting trip through Arizona and New Mexico. These travels inspired him to paint western subjects for the next 50 years, and his primary interests were the Hopi and Navajo Indians. In 1910, he traveled to Wyoming, where he painted in Yellowstone Park and created sketches, many of which he later converted into large canvases such as ‘Lower Falls of the Yellowstone’ (1915) and ‘Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone’ (1911). In 1926, he traveled to Africa at the invitation of Carl Akeley for the American Museum of Natural History, and from this experience, wrote and illustrated 'Frontiers of Enchantment: An Artist's Adventures in Africa'. In 1933, he wrote and illustrated 'The Western Pony'. His adventures were chronicled in several popular magazines, including Life, the Saturday Evening Post, and Colliers. For many years, Grand Central Art Galleries at the Biltmore Hotel handled his work exclusively in New York. In 1953, Leigh was elected an associate member of the National Academy of Design and became a full Academician in 1955. In March 1999, the Historical Center of Cody, Wyoming, held an exhibition of his field sketches and finished works depicting his experiences near Cody early in the century. Between 1910 and 1921, when he often painted in the Carter Mountain vicinity, these years were considered pivotal to his artistic development and devotion to the Western landscape. Leigh's work is held in many museum collections of American Western art...

Category

1920s Realist William Robinson Leigh Art

Materials

Etching

Bull
Bull

Bull

By William Robinson Leigh

Located in Missouri, MO

Bull by W. R. Leigh (1866-1955) Signed Lower Left Unframed: 20" x 16" Framed: 33.25" x 27.25" Born near Falling Waters, West Virginia on a plantation a year after the Civil War, and raised in Baltimore, William Leigh became one of the foremost painters of the American West with a career of seventy-five years. Some people referred to him as the "Sagebrush Rembrandt". He was the son of impoverished Southern aristocrats and took his first art training at age 14 from Hugh Newell (1830-1915) at the Maryland Institute where he was regarded as one of the best students in his class. From 1883 to 1895, he studied in Europe, mainly at the Royal Academy in Munich with Ludwig Loefftz. From 1891 to 1896, he painted six cycloramas or murals in the round, a giant German panorama. In 1896, he began working as a magazine illustrator in New York City for Scribner's and Collier's Weekly Magazine, and he also painted portraits, landscapes, and genre scenes. However, he was not a very successful artist in those years in New York. Trips to the Southwest began in 1906 when he made an agreement with William Simpson, Santa Fe Railway advertising manager, to paint the Grand Canyon in exchange for free transportation West. In 1907, he completed his Grand Canyon painting...

Category

Early 20th Century Realist William Robinson Leigh Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

The Noble Bull
The Noble Bull

The Noble Bull

By William Robinson Leigh

Located in Missouri, MO

William Robinson Leigh "The Noble Bull" Watercolor on Paper Signed Lower Left Site Size: 20 x 15 inches Framed Size: approx. 33.5 inches x 27 inches Born near Falling Waters, West Virginia on a plantation a year after the Civil War, and raised in Baltimore, William Leigh became one of the foremost painters of the American West with a career of seventy-five years. Some people referred to him as the "Sagebrush Rembrandt". He was the son of impoverished Southern aristocrats and took his first art training at age 14 from Hugh Newell (1830-1915) at the Maryland Institute where he was regarded as one of the best students in his class. From 1883 to 1895, he studied in Europe, mainly at the Royal Academy in Munich with Ludwig Loefftz. From 1891 to 1896, he painted six cycloramas or murals in the round, a giant German panorama. In 1896, he began working as a magazine illustrator in New York City for Scribner's and Collier's Weekly Magazine, and he also painted portraits, landscapes, and genre scenes. However, he was not a very successful artist in those years in New York. Trips to the Southwest began in 1906 when he made an agreement with William Simpson, Santa Fe Railway advertising manager, to paint the Grand Canyon in exchange for free transportation West. In 1907, he completed his Grand Canyon painting...

Category

Early 20th Century American Realist William Robinson Leigh Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Related Items
Take Me Home Oil Painting, American Impressionist, Framed, 12x8"

Take Me Home Oil Painting, American Impressionist, Framed, 12x8"

By Lu Haskew

Located in Loveland, CO

"Take me Home" by Lu Haskew Oil 19x16" framed, 12x8" image size Signed lower left A young child very apparently ready to go home from their intense yet cute look. The child is weari...

Category

Early 2000s American Impressionist William Robinson Leigh Art

Materials

Oil, Canvas

"Summer Day at Nice" French Beach Scene Impressionistic Oil Painting on Canvas
"Summer Day at Nice" French Beach Scene Impressionistic Oil Painting on Canvas

"Summer Day at Nice" French Beach Scene Impressionistic Oil Painting on Canvas

By Suzanne Demarest

Located in New York, NY

A stunning oil painting scene depicting figures by the beach in a sunny day at Nice, France done in the 20th Century. The vibrant colors and impressionistic brushwork is done with bo...

Category

Early 20th Century American Impressionist William Robinson Leigh Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Mid-17th-Century Madrid School, Saint Elijah
Mid-17th-Century Madrid School, Saint Elijah

Mid-17th-Century Madrid School, Saint Elijah

Located in Cheltenham, GB

This commanding mid-17th-century Spanish Baroque painting depicts Saint Elijah wrapped in a coarse Carmelite habit and raising a flaming sword. Towering within the vertical composit...

Category

1650s Baroque William Robinson Leigh Art

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Two Penguins, contemporary realist animal watercolor on paper
Two Penguins, contemporary realist animal watercolor on paper

Two Penguins, contemporary realist animal watercolor on paper

By Dina Brodsky

Located in New York, NY

Brodsky pairs gouache and watercolor to achieve the luster of her subject's plumage. Each carefully defined feather shimmers with a prism of color. Her attention to detail is enliven...

Category

2010s American Realist William Robinson Leigh Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor, Gouache

Original Painting Undersea Whale Life Mag Published 1953 Illustration Ocean Sea
Original Painting Undersea Whale Life Mag Published 1953 Illustration Ocean Sea

Original Painting Undersea Whale Life Mag Published 1953 Illustration Ocean Sea

By Antonio Petruccelli

Located in New York, NY

Original Painting Undersea Whale Life Mag Published 1953 Illustration Ocean Sea Antonio Petruccelli (1907 – 1994) Underwater Whale Life Illustration published, c. November 7, 1953 1...

Category

1950s American Realist William Robinson Leigh Art

Materials

Gouache, Board

Tigre couché à l'entrée de son antre  (Tiger Lying at the Entrance to its Lair)

Tigre couché à l'entrée de son antre (Tiger Lying at the Entrance to its Lair)

By Eugène Delacroix

Located in Middletown, NY

Etching, drypoint, and roulette on watermarked Hallines cream laid paper, 3 3/4 x 5 7/8 inches (95 x 148 mm), full margins. A very good impression of this charming image, with all of...

Category

Early 19th Century Realist William Robinson Leigh Art

Materials

Laid Paper, Drypoint, Etching

Heron Moon
Heron Moon

Suezan AikinsHeron Moon, c.1990

$750

H 15.75 in W 28.25 in D 0.75 in

Heron Moon

By Suezan Aikins

Located in San Francisco, CA

This artwork titled "Heron Moon" c.1990, is a color woodblock print on paper by noted Canadian/Japanese artist Suezan Aikins, b.1952. It is signed, titled and numbered 58/150 in pencil by the artist. The artwork (image) size is 8.5 x 21 inches, framed size is 15.75 x 28.25 inches. Custom framed in a silver metal frame, with double off white matting. It is in excellent condition, the frame have some small minor rubs, barely visible. About the artwork: This artwork required have 5 different carved wood blocks and 9 layers of colors to complete. About the artist: Born in Montreal in 1952, Suezan was influenced early in her life by the works of modern Japanese woodblock printmakers which hung throughout her parents’ home. She attended the Fine Arts programme at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick (1969 - 1971), The Ontario College of Art (1971-73), L’ ecole du Musee des Beaux Arts (1974), Nova Scotia College of Art and Design -BFA (1975) as well as a very intensive year of study with Toshi Yoshida in Tokyo (1984-85). She has exhibited extensively in both public and private galleries throughout North America and Japan. Recent exhibitions include solo shows in Tokyo, Osaka, Okinawa, and Boston with group exhibitions at the Wenniger Gallery, Boston, Royal Canadian Academy in Toronto and the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa. Her paintings and woodblock prints are found in many collections such as The Canada Council Art Bank, The Nickle Art Museum, The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, The Royal Bank of Canada, Prince Takamanonamiya Norihito, the Embassy of Canada in Tokyo, The Thomas Moore Institute as well as private collections. Suezan Aikins was awarded the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation grant in 1983, Nova Scotia Department of Culture - Development Grants in 1980, 1987 and 1988. She was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Art in 1990 and received the Canadian Progress Club- Women of Excellence Award for Culture in 1993. Her work has been featured in a number of television documentaries as well as many Canadian magazines. STUDIES: Yoshida Woodblock Print Studio Tokyo, 84-85 Nova Scotia College of Art & Design, Halifax, 74-75 BFA Ecole du Musee des Beaux Arts, Montreal, 74 Ontario College of Art, Toronto, 71-73 Mt. Allison University, 69-72 SELECTED SOLO SHOWS: 25 Year Retrospective of Woodblock Prints traveled to three Public Galleries in Germany: Dornum Castle; Tollhousverein, Leer; Rastede Palace, Oldenberg 2000-2001 color catalog and reviews. Private Exhibitions, Falmouth, Mass., July 1996; Montreal, November 1996; Gibson Island, Md., April 1999. Gold Paintings and Woodblock Retrospective, travelling: Kabutoya Gallery, Tokyo; Genkan Gallery, Tokyo American Club; Blue Nile Gallery, Osaka; Kanda's Gallery BOQ, Okinawa; May 1994 (color catalogue) Edo Gallery, Boston, November 1992, Private Exhibitions, Chatham, Mass, July 1992, Toronto, Oct. 1991 New Paintings and Woodblocks Kabutoya Gallery, Tokyo, May 1991, and also in 1987. Japanese Garden and Pavilion Foundation, Montreal, September 1990, Ownens Art Gallery, Mount Allison University 1988 Zwickers Gallery, Halifax, NS, 1979; Gallery 78; Fredericton, November, 1983; Robertson Galleries, Ottawa, November, 1982 SELECTED GROUP SHOWS: "A New Leaf" 30 foot instalation of mixed media/ goldleaf reliefs, Artsplace, Annapolis Royal, N.S., 2000 color catalog "Far and Wide" Juried Bienials, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia; 1996 to '99, travelling, catalogs "Moku Hanga Travelling Exhibition: Contemporary Japanese Woodcuts...

Category

Late 20th Century Realist William Robinson Leigh Art

Materials

Woodcut

"Venetian Scene with Gondola" Colorful 20th Century Impressionist Oil Painting
"Venetian Scene with Gondola" Colorful 20th Century Impressionist Oil Painting

"Venetian Scene with Gondola" Colorful 20th Century Impressionist Oil Painting

By Johannes Schiefer

Located in New York, NY

A charming Venetian scene with gondola oil on canvas painting by the French artist, Johanne Schiefer. This painting is a wonderful example of his work from the prime of his career. Here you see figures walking with gondolas and an abundance of color and life. The magic is being felt with all the magnificent details, as Schiefer captures the architecture of Venice so beautifully; you can feel the energy of the day and the excitement. The piece is signed by the artist lower left and it comes housed in a gold tone carved wood frame with hanging wire on verso ready to be displayed. Art measures 12 x 16 inches Frame measures 16.5 x 20.5 inches Johannes Schiefer was born in 1896 in the Netherlands, and quickly gained notoriety for his landscapes, still life’s and portraits. Schiefer won the Prix de Rome at the age of 19 and studied at the Düsseldorf Academy in Germany, and then moved to Paris where he continued his studies in art at the Beaux Arts, and later at the Villa Medici in Rome. He traveled to paint across Europe, primarily France and Italy and also Latin America. Like Picasso, Schiefer never permitted himself to be “type-cast” in a single monotonous style. If there is anything that typifies his work, it is his versatility, his deft handling of subdued tones to create a unique brilliance of light and color that stamps every painting with his own individuality. In February 1964, Ethel Kennedy...

Category

Mid-20th Century Impressionist William Robinson Leigh Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

“Portrait of a Lady in White, c. 1905-10” Impressionist Edwardian Belle Époque
“Portrait of a Lady in White, c. 1905-10” Impressionist Edwardian Belle Époque

“Portrait of a Lady in White, c. 1905-10” Impressionist Edwardian Belle Époque

Located in Yardley, PA

“Portrait of a Lady in White, c. 1905-10” by Joseph Oppenheimer (1876-1966). An exceptional portrait by Oppenheimer of a spirited young woman turned in half-profile. This work exemp...

Category

Early 20th Century Impressionist William Robinson Leigh Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Chickadee, Bird, Watercolor Handmade Painting

Chickadee, Bird, Watercolor Handmade Painting

By Artyom Abrahamyan

Located in Granada Hills, CA

55 Artist: Artyom Abrahamyan, Work: Original Painting, Handmade artwork, One of a Kind Medium: Watercolor on Paper, Year: 2023 Style: Classic Art, Subject: Chickadee, Size: 12 x ...

Category

2010s Realist William Robinson Leigh Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

"INDIAN ON HORSE" WESTERN NATIVE AMERICAN
"INDIAN ON HORSE" WESTERN NATIVE AMERICAN

"INDIAN ON HORSE" WESTERN NATIVE AMERICAN

By Olaf Wieghorst

Located in San Antonio, TX

Olaf Wieghorst (1899 - 1988) California, New York, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas Artist Image Size: 11 x 8.5 Frame Size: 18.5 x 14.5 Medium: Print "Indian on Horse...

Category

20th Century Realist William Robinson Leigh Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

William Robinson Leigh art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic William Robinson Leigh art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by William Robinson Leigh in paint, paper, watercolor and more. Not every interior allows for large William Robinson Leigh art, so small editions measuring 12 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Claudio Bravo, Michael DeFrancesco, and Carle Vernet (Antoine Charles Horace Vernet). William Robinson Leigh art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $5,500 and tops out at $49,000, while the average work can sell for $27,250.

Artists Similar to William Robinson Leigh