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A prize-winning painting by the famous American artist W.R. Leigh, thought to have been destroyed years ago, instead has been lovingly cared for by the same family for over a century. The work — whose present owners desire to remain anonymous — has been valued conservatively at more than $50,000 by a leading art gallery. Halstead Dunham, Chairman of the William Robinson Leigh Foundation here, recounted the history of the picture, titled Grandfather’s Story. It was painted by Leigh in 1889 while he was a student at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, Germany. It won the Academy’s highest award and then received an honorable mention at the Paris art show. Leigh, desperately in debt, sold the painting in 1892 to an American traveling in Europe. And there begins the mystery about its location. Leigh was born in Falling Waters, WV September 23, 1866 and died in New York City March 11, 1955. His biographers tracked down many of his paintings, but were unable to find Grandfather’s Story. D. Duane Cummins wrote in his 1980 book, William Robinson Leigh, Western Artist, that Leigh had spent a full semester “producing his first major work, a genre painting entitled Grandfather’s Story.” When it could not be located, Cummins concluded the painting was “no longer in existence.” Confusion about the painting’s fate apparently began because of a statement in Leigh’s unpublished autobiography now in the archives of the Gilcrease Institute in Tulsa, OK. Leigh wrote, “An American lady, a Mrs. Howe, saw my picture, Grandfather’s Story, and bought it for one thousand dollars.” Leigh, almost destitute, used the money to pay off debts. That was the last anyone heard publicly about the painting’s location. Until recently, that is, when the owners moved into a new home and had the cherished family heirloom cleaned and hung as the focal point of their living room. It was then they decided to investigate its origin. It had been handed down through the family for over 100 years. A search on the internet came up with the web site of the William Robinson Leigh Foundation (http://www.wrleigh.org), a not for profit organization in Falling Waters, WV. The mission of the foundation is to collect, exhibit, preserve and interpret the art and archives of W.R. Leigh and to provide a context for his life in West Virginia.
Following up with a letter and picture of the painting, the owners requested more information. The reaction in Falling Waters was elation; an important Leigh painting, his first major piece, had not been destroyed but was being lovingly cared for all those years. What Leigh did not know when he wrote his autobiography was that “Mrs. Howe” had been twice widowed. She was touring Europe with her children when she saw Leigh’s painting. Later, when she died, the picture was passed down to the children of her first marriage, who carried the family name “Proctor.”. Of course, the name Proctor was unknown to those who subsequently searched for the work, throwing them off track. No one named Howe had the painting. It’s not likely the “disappearing act” will be repeated. The present owner, whose great-grandmother had purchased the painting, has decided to bequeath it to the Leigh Foundation. Foundation Chairman Dunham expressed deep thanks for the charitable gift and promised an active schedule of exhibits in the future. Receipt of this first major painting by Leigh will be a “first” for the Foundation as well. Formed five years ago by Dunham and his wife, Lyn, neighbors and friends, the group has undertaken several educational efforts, but their presentations about Leigh have had to rely on prints and slides. Grandfather’s Story will be the first original they have for exhibition. The painting is 33 X 40 inches, in its original frame with the notation on the back from the Paris art show that it received honorable mention. Gerald Peters Galleries, asked by the foundation to estimate the painting’s worth, placed the value at $50,000. Peters described it as a “very important piece from the beginning of Leigh’s career.” Peters’ galleries in New York City, Santa Fe and Dallas, are experts in Leigh’s work and recently staged an exhibition of Leigh’s sketches made on the famous Akeley expeditions to Africa for the American Museum of Natural History. Leigh painted the dioramas that bring the animals to life in the museum’s Akeley Hall of African Mammals in New York. Leigh’s family home, an antebellum plantation in Falling Waters called Maidstone, is still standing. The plantation never recovered after the Civil War and the family moved to Martinsburg, WV where his mother took in boarders. At an early age, Leigh covered the plantation outbuildings with drawings of animals. He was sent to Baltimore at age 13 to live with relatives and to attend the Maryland Institute, College of Art. He excelled there and at 17, was a part-time instructor. He was encouraged to study in Europe. Relatives and friends scraped up funds to send him to Munich. He won the annual medal of the Royal Academy six times in succession. Returning to the States, he found work as an illustrator for Scribners and Colliers, but his career took a dramatic shift when he was hired by the Santa Fe Railroad to paint western scenes for their dining cars and advertisements. Going west was a dream come true for Leigh, and it was western art that sent his career soaring. Among other notable works, his painting of Custer’s Last Stand is hailed as one of the best; Bearhunt in Wyoming is said to be the most reproduced hunting scene in history; and his paintings of Native Americans are found in museums around the nation. His painting of bucking horses, gun-wielding outlaws and western landscapes earned him the nickname, Sagebrush Rembrandt. Leigh’s work, however, had many facets. His Paul Revere hangs at the Old North Church, Boston, MA. The African scenes still delight spectators at the Museum of Natural History in New York; and his portrait of his cousin, Sophie Colston is one of the treasures exhibited at the National Museum of American Art in Washington, DC. Until now, Leigh enthusiasts had only the words of one of his biographers, June Du Bois, to try to imagine Grandfather. She wrote the painting was “a warm and appealing one (depicting) a German peasant grandfather seated in the cozy interior of his house. A baby lies across his knees. One tiny hand points at the smoke ribboning from a pipe with which the smiling old man gestures through the story he relates. A spellbound girl and boy stand before him. In the background a woman sets a table before a large window, the only source of light.” Leigh painted a sequel to Grandfather’s Story titled Getting Acquainted. DuBois, in W.R. Leigh — the Definitive Illustrated Biography, wrote that “the picture shows children and a grandmother leaning on a table getting acquainted with two white rabbits. For this Leigh was awarded another silver medal.” The W.R. Leigh Foundation; continually assembling Leigh data, asks — who knows where this picture is? Whose home holds this treasure? The two biographies about Leigh cited here are out of print but available on Interlibrary Loan. A new book, Gregory Perillo and the Masters of American Western Art, by James Brodell and Peter Occhiogrosso and published by the Butler Institute of Youngstown, Ohio (ISBN 0-9676196-0-2) contains reproductions of several Leigh works. Perillo was Leigh’s only known private pupil. He lives in upstate NY.
Here are places with outstanding W.R. Leigh paintings or collections:
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Dedicated to the appreciation and preservation of American Western Art Contributions are Tax Deductible lyndunham@aol.com 10501 Bayside Road, Sun City, AZ 85351 © 1998-2006 Hosting/Design CWD/Thomas Site Began Dec 23, 1998: admin | |
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