A new book, Gregory Perillo and the Masters of Western Art, reveals a previously unknown aspect of W.R. Leigh's life and heritage: He had a private pupil, Gregory Perillo, a noted present-day Western artist.

It had been known previously that Leigh was a sometime instructor, beginning with a part-time position at the Maryland Institute, College of Art when he was 17. He also was known to have taught classes at the Traphagen School of Design in New York (Ethel Traphagen was Leigh's second wife). Douglas Allen, a painter of big game animals, recalls Leigh lecturing at the Museum of Natural History in New York. But this is the first time it has been revealed publicly that he had a private pupil late in his life.

The book - a handsome coffee-table-sized 200-page, richly illustrated volume authored by James David Brodell and Peter Occhiogrosso and published by the Butler Institute of American Art - reports on a chance meeting of Leigh and Perillo while both were sketching in the West. An almost father-son relationship developed between them and during the last four years of Leigh's life, he served as the younger man's teacher and constructive critic.

Apparently the combination paid off - Perillo, now 73, is a respected Western artist and his works are found in top galleries and museums. Among the most notable is an heroic-size statue of a horse and rider commissioned for the American Express World Headquarters and now the focal point of the entrance to the firm's Phoenix, AZ offices. Several Perillo paintings adorn the executive suite, also.

Publication of the book was called to our attention when coauthor Brodell, Adjunct Curator for the Western Collection of the Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH, discovered our web site. The Butler has a premier collection of American art and logs in more than 100,000 visitors each year.

The book contains several previously unpublished pictures of Leigh as well as seven color plates of his paintings. It has color pictures of more than 70 paintings and sketches by Perillo and additional color reproductions of a host of other Western artists, as it traces the development of Perillo as an artist.

Perillo was born in New York and like Leigh, Frederic Remington, Thomas Moran and others, did most of his work in the New York area. It was that accident of geography that allowed the Perillo-Leigh student-teacher association to develop. The book thoroughly covers their relationship and the authors offer this tribute to Leigh: "Leigh's talent, and an amount of schooling far beyond that of his predecessors Remington and Russell, provided him with a greater mastery of the craft. Of the great American Western masters, Leigh's are the only paintings that don't look dated. Leigh was a refined artist who carried Western subject matter to a higher plane. His works live on today as magnificently as they did fifty years ago. Just as importantly, he lives on through the works of his renowned pupil."

Gregory Perillo and the Masters of American Western Art sells for $79.50. However, the publishers have agreed to offer it to paid-up members of the Foundation at a discount. The price will be $37.50. The book would be a fine gift, possibly for Christmas. If you are interested, complete and mail the form below.