Harry "Tony" Leith-Ross (27 January 1886 – 15 March 1973) was a British-American landscape painter and teacher. He taught at the art colonies in

Woodstock, New York Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the northern part of the county, northwest of Kingston, NY. It lies within the borders of the Catskill Park. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census, down from 6,241 in 2000 ...

and

Rockport, Maine Rockport is a town in Knox County, Maine, United States. It is thirty-five miles southeast of Augusta. The population was 3,644 at the 2020 census. Rockport is a popular tourist destination and art colony. History Rockport, or "the River", was ...

, and later was part of the art colony in

New Hope, Pennsylvania New Hope is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The population was 2,612 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. New Hope is located approximately north of Philadelphia, and lies on the west bank of the Delaw ...

. A precise draftsman and a superb colorist, Leith-Ross is considered one of the Pennsylvania Impressionists.

Life and career

Harry Leith-Ross was born in

Saint Pierre, Mauritius St. Pierre (St Peter) is a village in the district of Moka in Mauritius.It is considered to be found in the heart of Mauritius.The climatic conditions is cold and ideal especially during summer with cold breeze. The village has significantly chan ...

– an island in the

South Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

– the son of banker Frederick William Arbuthnot Leith-Ross and Sina van Houten. His mother was the daughter of Dutch politician

Samuel van Houten Samuel van Houten (17 February 1837 – 14 October 1930) was a Dutch liberal politician and philosopher, who served as Minister of the Interior from 1894 to 1897. Early life Van Houten was born in Groningen into a wealthy Mennonite family. Hi ...

, and his younger brother was Scottish economist Sir

Frederick Leith-Ross Sir Frederick William Leith-Ross, GCMG, KCB (4 February 1887 – 22 August 1968) was a Scottish economist who was chief adviser to the UK government from 1932 to 1945. Biography Leith-Ross was born in Saint Pierre, Mauritius, the son of Fred ...

. Leith-Ross was educated in England and Scotland, and studied engineering at the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

for a year. He emigrated to the United States at age 17 in 1903, and worked for his uncle's coal company. He subsequently took up advertising work in Denver, Colorado. He travelled to Paris in 1909, and studied art at the

Académie Delécluse The Académie Delécluse was an atelier-style art school in Paris, France, founded in the late 19th century by the painter Auguste Joseph Delécluse. It was exceptionally supportive of women artists, with more space being given to women students ...

and the

Académie Julian The Académie Julian () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907) that was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number a ...

. He studied in New York City at the National Academy of Design School under

Charles Yardley Turner Charles Yardley "C. Y." Turner (November 25, 1850 – January 1, 1919) was an American painter, illustrator, muralist and teacher. His genre scenes and American historical paintings were popularized through engravings and book illustrations. Bio ...

, beginning in 1910. The

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may stu ...

operated a summer painting school in Woodstock, New York, which Leith-Ross first attended in 1913. His instructors included Birge Harrison and

John F. Carlson John Fabian Carlson (May 5, 1875 – May 19, 1947) was a Swedish-born American Impressionist painter. Background John Fabian Carlson was born in Kolsebo in Västervik Municipality, Kalmar County, in Småland, Sweden. The Carlson family immigra ...

. It was there that he met fellow student John Fulton Folinsbee, who would become his life-long friend. Folinsbee had contracted polio as a child, and was confined to a wheelchair. The two men shared a cabin, and Leith-Ross would carry Folinsbee around the countryside on his back. Each served as best man for the other's wedding. Folinsbee married in 1914, and he and his wife settled in

in 1916, where Leith-Ross was a frequent houseguest.Kirsten M. Jensen, ''Folinsbee Considered''. New York, NY: Hudson Hills Press, 2014. Both men painted

en plein air ''En plein air'' (; French for 'outdoors'), or ''plein air'' painting, is the act of painting outdoors. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look. The theory of 'En plein air' painting ...

, directly from nature. They were famous for spending afternoons sketching on the bridge at New Hope (and for tossing anything that displeased them into the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...

). Leith-Ross served as a second lieutenant in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. After the war, Leith-Ross taught at the

University of Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...

, and co-founded an art school in Rockport, Maine, where he taught during the summers. He met student Emily Slaymaker in Summer 1925, and they were married later that year. They lived in Woodstock, New York for a decade, then settled outside New Hope, Pennsylvania in 1935. They had one daughter, Elizabeth Leith-Ross Mow. He wrote a well-regarded book on landscape painting: Leith-Ross died in 1973 in

Pineville, Pennsylvania Pineville is a village on the border between Buckingham and Wrightstown townships in Bucks County, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, ...

Exhibitions, awards and honors

Leith-Ross and Folinsbee had a joint exhibition at the

Toledo Museum of Art The Toledo Museum of Art is an internationally known art museum located in the Old West End neighborhood of Toledo, Ohio. It houses a collection of more than 30,000 objects. With 45 galleries, it covers 280,000 square feet and is currently in th ...

in November 1915. Leith-Ross exhibited oil and watercolor paintings at the National Academy of Design in the 1910s, and at the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

in the 1920s. He exhibited at the

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Salmagundi Club The Salmagundi Club, sometimes referred to as the Salmagundi Art Club, is a fine arts center founded in 1871 in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan, New York City. Since 1917, it has been located at 47 Fifth Avenue. , its membership roster ...

and the

American Watercolor Society The American Watercolor Society, founded in 1866, is a nonprofit membership organization devoted to the advancement of watercolor painting in the United States. Qualifications AWS judges the work of a painter before granting admission to the soc ...

. Leith-Ross was elected an Associate of the National Academy of Design in 1928, and Folinsbee painted his diploma portrait. Leith-Ross appeared in at least three other paintings by Folinsbee.

Legacy

Leith-Ross expressed his philosophy about painting in ''The Landscape Painter's Manual'' (1956), Watson Guptill Publication

His works are in the permanent collections of the

James A. Michener Art Museum The Michener Art Museum is a private, non-profit museum that is located in Doylestown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1988, it was named for the Pulitzer Prize–winning writer James A. Michener, a Doylestown resident. Situated within ...

, the

Woodmere Art Museum Woodmere Art Museum, located in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has a collection of paintings, prints, sculpture and photographs focusing on artists from the Delaware Valley and includes works by Thomas Pollock Anshutz, S ...

, the

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (commonly known as SAAM, and formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds o ...

, and many private collections. Leith-Ross's papers are at the University of Pennsylvani

The Michener Museum hosted a posthumous exhibition of his works, ''Poetry in Design: The Art of Harry Leith-Ross'' (October 2006 - March 2007

Leith-Ross's ''Connecticut Valley in Fall'' was appraised on '' Antiques Roadshow (American TV program), Antiques Roadshow'' in 201

Selected works

* ''Sunlight on Snow'' (1927), Thomas Colville Fine Art, Guilford, Connecticut * ''Lone Skater'' (1943), Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania * ''Flag Station'' (1945), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania * ''The Sleigh'' (1945), private collection * ''Soldier's Grave'' (1948), private collection * ''Demolition'' (1954), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C. * ''The Fair'' (1958),

, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania * ''Red Barn'' (undated), James A. Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania * ''Canal Dwellers'' (undated),Canal Dwellers
from Woodmere Art Museum. Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leith-Ross, Harry 1886 births 1973 deaths British people of Dutch descent British emigrants to the United States People from Bucks County, Pennsylvania People from New Hope, Pennsylvania Alumni of the University of Birmingham Académie Julian alumni Scottish male painters British male painters British landscape painters Pennsylvania Impressionism University at Buffalo faculty National Academy of Design associates Académie Delécluse alumni