Original Painting “Horse at Ranchos de Taos Church” [R]

Howard Leigh was born in Kentucky and raised in Indiana studying at Earlham College under John Albert Seaford. A brief study of medicine gave way to his continued art training in Paris at the École de Beaux Arts. While in Paris, Leigh chronicled the destruction of the Great War. These works were widely exhibited throughout Europe before he returned to America in 1921, settling in Chicago. In the early 1930s he returned to Earlham teaching and developing their esteemed print collection. In 1938, he moved to Mitla, Mexico where he lived and worked the remainder of his career. Today his works are in collections such as the Musée de la Guerre in Paris, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Smithsonian Institution.

Leigh is best known for his architectural studies, as this drawing illustrates. Not only is the horse well rendered, but so too the stable, with the chapel steeple cresting over the horizon. Leigh’s technical aplomb is apparent in his treatment of light, perspective, and the strong lines dominating the drawing. The paper’s watermark is evident in the lower right corner, next to the artist’s signature.