Hilton Leech (American, 1906 - 1969)

Lot description

Hilton Leech (American, 1906 - 1969) "New England Homestead" Watercolor. Signed lower left. Sight Size: 9.5 x 13.5 in. Overall Framed Size: 17 x 21 in. Framed behind glass. Hilton Leech had an important influence on the development of art in Sarasota. He came to the city in 1931 to help organize the Ringling School of Art as one of its first instructors. In 1934 he was working as an artist for the government and listed in the Report of the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for the Federal Emergency Relied Administration. From 1931 to 1945 he was an instructor at the Ringling School. A review of his work in the Sarasota Herald, February 13, 1939 reads, ?Mr. Leech?s ?Coal Tug,? which depicts a dingy old tug boat with somber, snow covered mountains in the background, is a beautiful, forceful painting, not easily forgotten. ?Montauk Harbor?, a symphony of greys, and ?Apple Blossoms,? were outstanding for their simplicity and unusual color. ?Bay Street? by Mr. Leech, is a subtler harmony of purple and grey, a simple interpretation of factory buildings at Hamilton, Ontario. Mr. Leech?s watercolors are very direct, yet leave so much to the imagination that it is impossible to catch their full meaning at first glance, and the longer one looks the more he finds in them. There is a depth of color and feeling in each picture which is hard to describe.? Leech took a leave of absence from the Ringling School for government service during World War II. Returning to Sarasota in 1946, Hilton and his wife Dorothy, founded the Amagansett Art School and continued to teach there and at Amagansett, Long Island for many years. Leech had over thirteen one man shows; his paintings exhibited at the Metropolitan and Whitney Museums in New York City, the Albright and Corcoran Galleries, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the National Gallery of Art. He won many prizes including the Joseph Meyer casein prize of the Audubon Society of Artists, the New York Watercolor Club purchase prize, and the Southeastern Annual watercolor prize. Leech is represented at the Dallas Museum, the High Museum, Atlanta, and the Hamilton Art Gallery in Hamilton, Ontario. In 1955 Leech was included in the Ringling Museum?s, Fifty Florida Painters.