William Leighton Leitch
William Leighton Leitch (born November 22, 1804 in Glasgow , † April 25, 1883 in St. John's Wood , London ) was a Scottish watercolor and stage painter and illustrator .
The early years
Leitch developed a great passion for painting very early on. After a less than successful apprenticeship in a law firm and a weaving mill , he began an apprenticeship with a "house painter" and decorator. In 1824 he took up a position as a stage painter at the Theater Royal. In the same year he married Susannah Smellie, with whom he had five sons and two daughters.
After Leitch left the theater and kept himself afloat painting snuffboxes , he went to London. There he made the acquaintance of David Roberts and Clarkson Stanfield and began again as a stage painter at the Queen's Theater. During this time he took lessons from the watercolourist Copley Fielding and also made illustrations for a book planned by a stockbroker. The promotion of this man enabled Leitch to visit the continent. After exhibiting two drawings in the Society of British Artists in 1832 , he traveled through Holland , Germany and Switzerland to Italy in 1833 , where he stayed for four years. During this time he visited all the great Italian cities as well as Sicily and made a large number of sketches; he improved his finances from time to time by taking drawing lessons.
Advancement as an artist and teacher
After his return in July 1837, he devoted himself almost exclusively to watercolor painting as a teacher and artist. With his teaching he had great success in aristocratic circles; eventually he was introduced to the queen and then worked for 22 years as a drawing teacher for the royal family.
Between 1841 and 1861 Leitch occasionally sent oil paintings to the Royal Academy of Arts . In 1862, however, he became a member of the Royal Institute of painters in watercolors and from then on exhibited regularly at this institute. In 1883 he became vice president of this society, which after his death organized an exhibition of his works in its rooms on Piccadilly .
plant
The works with illustrations engraved from his models include: "Constantinople and the Turkish empire" by Robert Walsh (1838), "The Rhine, Italy and Greece" by GN Wright (1840), "Shores and islands of the Mediterranean" by the same Authors (1841), "Italy" by William Brockedon (1843), "Memorial of the royal progress in Scotland" by Sir TD Lauders (1843) and "Scotland delineated" by JP Lawson (1847–54). The sketches in his possession and a few finished drawings and oil paintings were auctioned at Christie's in March 1884 and sold for more than 9,000 pounds.
literature
- William Cosmo Monkhouse : Leitch, William Leighton . In: Sidney Lee (Ed.): Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 33: Leighton - Lluelyn. MacMillan & Co, Smith, Elder & Co., New York City / London 1893, p 9 - 10 (English).
- Dictionary of National Biography on the multimedia CD Infopedia UK, Softkey Multimedia Inc., 1996.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Leitch, William Leighton |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Scottish watercolor and stage painter and illustrator |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 22, 1804 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Glasgow |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 25, 1883 |
| Place of death | St. John's Wood , London |