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 Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the northern part of the county, northwest of Kingston, New York, Kingston. It lies within the borders of the Catskill Park. The popula ...

and

Rockport, Maine Rockport is a town in Knox County, Maine, United States. It is 35 miles (56.3 km) 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 ...

, and later was part of the art colony in

New Hope, Pennsylvania New Hope is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. 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 b ...

. 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 Saint Pierre is a village in the district of Moka in Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the ...

– an island in the

South Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it ...

– the son of banker Frederick William Arbuthnot Leith-Ross and Sina van Houten. His mother was the daughter of Dutch politician Samuel van Houten, and his younger brother was Scottish economist Sir

Frederick Leith-Ross Sir Frederick William Leith-Ross, Order of St Michael and St George, GCMG, Order of the Bath, 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 ...

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

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

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

. He studied in New York City at the National Academy of Design School under Charles Yardley Turner, beginning in 1910. The

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may study f ...

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. 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 language, 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 ai ...

, 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 region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

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

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. After the war, Leith-Ross taught at the

University of Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public university, public research university in Buffalo, New York, Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. ...

, 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, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States ...

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, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

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. Founded in 1805, it is the longest continuously operating art museum and art school in the United States. The academy's museum ...

most years from 1916 to 1952, and won prizes from the

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 rost ...

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

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, ...

, the

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM; 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 one of the world's lar ...

, 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 Artists 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