William Robinson Leigh (1866-1955)

William Robinson Leigh was one of the most well-known and gifted artists of the American west. He is noted for his depictions of the vast spaces of the western plains; the animals, mountains, canyons and cowboys of the region. Called the "Sagebrush Rembrandt," Leigh employed traditional European painting techniques learned during the twelve years he spent studying at the Royal Academy in Munich under Raupp, Gysis, van Lindenschmidt and von Loefftz. He always began with a charcoal drawing and painted over it. He would start with the most distant objects until he reached the foreground, creating intensity with his clear contrasting of light and strong colors.

William Leigh was born into poverty in Falling Waters, West Virginia and, at the age of fourteen, attended the Maryland Institute in Baltimore, studying under Hugh Newell before going to Germany. It was not until he was forty years old that he was able, financially, to do that which he had always desired - to paint the American west. He made a deal with the Santa Fe Railroad Co., trading a painting for a ticket to New Mexico. The company was more than pleased with their painting, and commissioned five more. He was thus able to spend some time in the west before financial constraints forced him to return to New York City where he worked as an illustrator for Scribners and Colliers.