Harry Leith-Ross

Born in 1886 in the former British colony of Mauritius, Harry Leith-Ross grew up in Scotland and England. He came to the United States at the invitation of an uncle in 1903. After studying in Paris and London, he returned to America and worked in commercial art and advertising. In 1913, he left the advertising world to study painting at the Art Students League's summer school at Woodstock, New York. During the 1910s, Leith-Ross exhibited his first landscapes at the National Academy of Design and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Leith-Ross worked primarily in oils and watercolors and won the first of eleven prizes from the Salmagundi Club in New York the following year.

He conducted classes in landscape painting in Woodstock and in Rockport and Gloucester, Massachusetts. Leith-Ross settled permanently in New Hope in 1935 when he temporarily took over teaching duties for John Fulton Folinsbee, a former classmate who was summering in Maine. In the ensuing years, the artist would become an integral part of the New Hope art community and win awards from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Phillips' Mill, National Academy of Design, American Watercolor Society, and the Salmagundi Club among others. He was a visiting instructor at the University of Buffalo, New York, and the University of Utah, Salt Lake City. In 1956, he wrote The Landscape Painter's Manual.

Education and Training
University of Birmingham, England, 1901-1902
Academie Julian, Paris, France, 1909-1910
Private studies with Stanhope Forbes of the Royal Academy, London, England, 1910
National Academy of Design, New York, New York, 1910-1912
Art Students League, Woodstock, New York, 1913-1914

Teachers and Influences
Henri Laurens, Delecluse, Academie Julian, Paris
Stanhope Forbes, Royal Academy, London
Birge Harrison, John Carlson, Art Students League, Woodstock, New York

Connection to Bucks County
Harry Leith-Ross heard of the New Hope art community while attending the Art Students League in Woodstock, New York. He first visited in the summer of 1914 to paint and made several return trips to visit artist friends. Most notably, Leith-Ross visited John F. Folinsbee, whom he met when the two were students in Woodstock. Leith-Ross settled permanently in New Hope in 1935 with his wife Emily, when he temporarily took over teaching duties for John F. Folinsbee, a former classmate who was summering in Maine. In the ensuing years, the artist would become an integral part of the New Hope art community. He lived and worked here until his death in 1973.

Harry and Emily Leith Ross lived in the Jericho Valley area of Solebury, near New Hope. They were neighbors with Nondas Metcalfe Case and Nelson Case. Emily Leith Ross was active with the Phillips' Mill Community Association and wrote many plays for Mill performances until the 1950s.

Colleagues and Affiliations
Painters John Fulton Folinsbee, Daniel Garber, Charles Child, George Sotter, Clarence Carter
Member and a director of Phillips Mill Community Art Association, New Hope, Pennsylvania
New Hope Art Associates, Secretary

Major Solo Exhibitions
Harry Leith-Ross, Richard Stuart Gallery, Pipersville, Pennsylvania, 1981
Harry Leith-Ross, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1955
Watercolors by Harry Leith-Ross, Grand Central Art Galleries, New York, 1954
The Drawings of Harry Leith-Ross, Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 1999
Poetry in Design: The Art of Harry Leith-Ross, Michener Art Museum, New Hope, Pennsylvania, 2006 and Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 2006-2007

Major Group Exhibitions
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, 1914, 1916, 1920-1927
National Academy of Design, New York, New York, 1915-1942, 1944, 1945
Salmagundi Club, New York, New York, 1915, 1938, 1944, 1946
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1916, 1922-1929, 1933, 1936, 1938, 1940-1946, 1948, 1952
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., 1919, 1921, 1933, 1935, 1937, 1939, 1941, 1943, 1945
Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts, Hartford, Connecticut, 1921, 1943
American Water Color Society, New York, New York, 1936, 1938-1946
American Artists For Victory, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York, 1942, States Competition, 1948
Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1943-1945
Five Greats, Bucks County Council on the Arts, Rodman House, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 1980
The Pennsylvania Impressionists: Painters of the New Hope School, James A. Michener Arts Center, 1990
Objects of Desire: Treasures from Private Collections, Michener Art Museum, New Hope, Pennsylvania, 2005-2006
An Evolving Legacy: Twenty Years of Collecting at the James A. Michener Art Museum, Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 2009-2010

Major Collections
American Watercolor Society, New York, New York
Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania
New York Watercolor Club, New York, New York
Philadelphia Watercolor Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Woodmere Art Museum, Germantown, Pennsylvania

Commissions
WPA Mural, United States Post Office, Masontown, Pennsylvania

Publications
The Landscape Painter's Manual, 1956

Teaching and Professional Appointments
Teacher, Adult School of Education, Bound Brook, New Jersey, 1947
Visiting instructor, University of Buffalo, New York
Visiting instructor, Brigham Young University, Salt Lake City, Utah
Visiting instructor, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
Elected Associate, National Academy of Design, New York, 1928
Elected Academian, National Academy of Design, New York, 1936

Major Awards
Salmagundi Club, New York, 1915, 1938, 1944, 1946, 1953, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962
Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts, Hartford, 1921, 1943
National Academy of Design, New York, 1927, 1955, 1956
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1946
Woodmere Art Museum, Germantown, Pennsylvania, 1944, 1949, 1957, 1958, 1961, 1966
Phillips' Mill Community Art Association, New Hope, 1959, 1966
American Water Color Society, New York, 1937, 1941, 1953, 1956
Washington Water Color Club, Washington D.C., 1958

Affiliations and Memberships
American Watercolor Society, New York
Baltimore Water Color Club
National Academy of Design
Philadelphia Water Color Club
Phillips' Mill Community Art Association
Salmagundi Club, New York