==Early years and education==
==Early years and education==
Leech was born in 1881 in [[Parnell Square]] in [[Dublin]], the son of Anne Louisa née Garbois (1847–1921) and Professor Henry Brougham Leech LLD (1843–1921). He went to school at [[St Columba’s College, Dublin]] in Rathfarnham, and in 1899 enrolled at the [[Dublin Metropolitan School of Art]]. Rejecting the route of becoming an art teacher, in 1900, he transferred to the [[Royal Hibernian Academy]] to study under major Irish artists and particularly [[Walter Osborne]], who Leech credited as teaching him everything that he “needed to know about painting”. By 1901, Leech had perfected Osbourne’s techniques of “drawing directly in paint on the canvas”, and the “bold use of [[impasto]] combined with flickering light and shade”, and “a late predilection for watercolour”. Leech was also influenced by [[Nathaniel Hone the Younger|Nathaniel Hone]] and his small paint sketches of light made outdoors which are later scaled up in the studio, as well as [[James McNeill Whistler]] and his techniques of balancing of tones and colours.<ref name=DIB>{{cite web | website=[[Dictionary of Irish Biography]] | title=Leech, William John | first=Claudine | last=Dauphin | authorlink=Claudine Dauphin | url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/leech-william-john-a4764 | date=March 2013 | doi=10.3318/dib.004764.v2| accessdate=4 October 2025}}</ref>
Leech was born in 1881 in [[Parnell Square]] in [[Dublin]], the son of Anne Louisa née Garbois (1847–1921) and Professor Henry Brougham Leech (1843–1921). He went to school at [[St Columba’s College, Dublin , and in 1899 enrolled at the [[Dublin Metropolitan School of Art]]. Rejecting the route of becoming an art teacher, in 1900, he transferred to the [[Royal Hibernian Academy]] to study under major Irish artists and particularly [[Walter Osborne]], who Leech credited as teaching him everything that he “needed to know about painting”.<ref name=DIB/>
By 1901, Leech had perfected his use of Osbourne’s techniques of “drawing directly in paint on the canvas”, and the “bold use of [[impasto]] combined with flickering light and shade”, and “a late predilection for watercolour”. Leech was also influenced by [[Nathaniel Hone the Younger|Nathaniel Hone]] and his small outdoor paint sketches to capture light and colour which are later scaled up in the studio, as well as [[James McNeill Whistler]] and his detailed techniques of balancing of tones and colours.<ref name=DIB>{{cite web| website=[[Dictionary of Irish Biography]] | title=Leech, William John | first=Claudine | last=Dauphin | authorlink=Claudine Dauphin | url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/leech-william-john-a4764 | date=March 2013 | doi=10.3318/dib.004764.v2| accessdate=4 October 2025}}</ref>
==Career as artist==
===Concarneau===
Leech returned to Dublin in 1902 but in 1903 left to join his friend, Thompson in the French sea-side town of [[Concarneau]] in [[Brittany]], which had an established “artistic colony”. Leech was largely based at Concarneau from 1903 to 1910, and his artistic style developed marketly from a “formal academic “brown studies” in dark Dutch style with a restricted palette of earth tones) to “landscapes in Whistlerian subdued tonalities”.<ref name=DIB/> Leech’s portraits were considered to realistic and unforgiving to make him a prosperous “society portrait painter”, however, his French and Irish landscapes won him numerous [[Royal Dublin Society]] Taylor prizes and scholarships, and established him as an important emerging Irish artist.<ref name=DIB/>
After he returned to Dublin from Brittany in 1906, he was soon embraced into the artistic circle of [[George William Russell|George Russell]] (A.E.), [[Constance Gore-Booth]] and her husband Casimir Dunin Markievicz. Leech exhibited nearly seventy paintings with them in a group exhibition at the Leinster Lecture Hall in August 1907. In December 1909, Leech exhibited with [[Jack Yeats]], Albert Power, Eva Hamilton, [[William Orpen]], [[Lily Williams (artist)|Lily Williams]], A.E., [[Constance Markievicz|Constance Gore-Booth]] and [[Dermod O’Brien|Dermod O’Brien]], in the first Aonach art exhibition, organised by [[Sinn Féin]] as part of the [[Oireachtas na Gaeilge|Irish Festival]] at the [[City Hall, Dublin|Rotunda]].
After he returned to Dublin from Brittany in 1906, he was soon embraced into the artistic circle of [[George William Russell|George Russell]] (A.E.), [[Constance Gore-Booth]] and her husband Casimir Dunin Markievicz. Leech exhibited nearly seventy paintings with them in a group exhibition at the Leinster Lecture Hall in August 1907. In December 1909, Leech exhibited with [[Jack Yeats]], Albert Power, Eva Hamilton, [[William Orpen]], [[Lily Williams (artist)|Lily Williams]], A.E., [[Constance Markievicz|Constance Gore-Booth]] and [[Dermod O’Brien|Dermod O’Brien]], in the first Aonach art exhibition, organised by [[Sinn Féin]] as part of the [[Oireachtas na Gaeilge|Irish Festival]] at the [[City Hall, Dublin|Rotunda]].
===Marriage===
On his return to France, he met and in 1912 married Saurin Elizabeth née Smith (1879–c1951),{{efn|Daughter of Katherine Howard Lane and Francis Stribling Smith, born Jan 1879 in St Louis, Missouri, USA. She married first Fentress Gordon Kerlin (1864-1916), their daughter was Fentress Saurin Kerlin, (1897–1979). Katherine was the daughter of Rev. Saurin Eliot Lane (1818–1904).}} a young painter of a similar style. They separated after just two years of marriage. Leech would travel throughout Europe and eventually settled in England in 1919, with frequent visits to the South of France, to [[Marseille]], [[Grasse]] and [[Cagnes-sur-Mer]].
On his return to France, he met and in 1912 married Saurin Elizabeth née Smith (1879–c1951),{{efn|Daughter of Katherine Howard Lane and Francis Stribling Smith, born Jan 1879 in St Louis, Missouri, USA. She married first Fentress Gordon Kerlin (1864-1916), their daughter was Fentress Saurin Kerlin, (1897–1979). Katherine was the daughter of Rev. Saurin Eliot Lane (1818–1904).}} a young painter of a similar style. They separated after just two years of marriage. Leech would travel throughout Europe and eventually settled in England in 1919, with frequent visits to the South of France, to [[Marseille]], [[Grasse]] and [[Cagnes-sur-Mer]].
Irish painter (1881–1968)
William John Leech (10 April 1881 – 16 July 1968) was an Irish painter and impressionist.
Early years and education
Leech was born in 1881 in Parnell Square in Dublin, the son of Anne Louisa née Garbois (1847–1921) and Professor Henry Brougham Leech (1843–1921). He went to school at St Columba’s College, and in 1899 enrolled at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art. Rejecting the route of becoming an art teacher, in 1900, he transferred to the Royal Hibernian Academy to study under major Irish artists and particularly Walter Osborne, who Leech credited as teaching him everything that he “needed to know about painting”.[2]
By 1901, Leech had perfected his use of Osbourne’s techniques of “drawing directly in paint on the canvas”, and the “bold use of impasto combined with flickering light and shade”, and “a late predilection for watercolour”. Leech was also influenced by Nathaniel Hone and his small outdoor paint sketches to capture light and colour which are later scaled up in the studio, as well as James McNeill Whistler and his detailed techniques of balancing of tones and colours.[2]
In 1901, with the support of Osborne, Leech left Dublin for Paris, where he would study at the Académie Julian in Paris, where he studied under William-Adolphe Bouguereau who emphasised “restrained bruskwork” and “finish”, and later under Jean-Paul Laurens, who emphasised use of colour. While in Paris, he shared accomodation with the New Zealad artist Sydney Thompson, who would become a lifelong friend.[2][3]
Career as artist
Concarneau
Leech returned to Dublin in 1902 but in 1903 left to join his friend, Thompson in the French sea-side town of Concarneau in Brittany, which had an established “artistic colony”. Leech was largely based at Concarneau from 1903 to 1910, and his artistic style developed marketly from a “formal academic “brown studies” in dark Dutch style with a restricted palette of earth tones) to “landscapes in Whistlerian subdued tonalities”.[2] Leech’s portraits were considered to realistic and unforgiving to make him a prosperous “society portrait painter”, however, his French and Irish landscapes won him numerous Royal Dublin Society Taylor prizes and scholarships, and established him as an important emerging Irish artist.[2]
After he returned to Dublin from Brittany in 1906, he was soon embraced into the artistic circle of George Russell (A.E.), Constance Gore-Booth and her husband Casimir Dunin Markievicz. Leech exhibited nearly seventy paintings with them in a group exhibition at the Leinster Lecture Hall in August 1907. In December 1909, Leech exhibited with Jack Yeats, Albert Power, Eva Hamilton, William Orpen, Lily Williams, A.E., Constance Gore-Booth and Dermod O’Brien, in the first Aonach art exhibition, organised by Sinn Féin as part of the Irish Festival at the Rotunda.
Marriage
On his return to France, he met and in 1912 married Saurin Elizabeth née Smith (1879–c1951),[a] a young painter of a similar style. They separated after just two years of marriage. Leech would travel throughout Europe and eventually settled in England in 1919, with frequent visits to the South of France, to Marseille, Grasse and Cagnes-sur-Mer.
In about 1919, Leech was commissioned by a London solicitor Percy Dumville Botterell CBE (1880–1950), to paint a portrait of his wife May née Pearson (1881–1965). Percy had served as a commercial attaché to the Hague in the later years of the war and May had organised a relief center for released prisoners of war; one of these was William’s brother, Lt-Col Cecil John Farran Leech (1882–1952), who made the introduction. In 1920, William painted Portrait of Suzanne Botterell, Percy and May’s daughter. William and May maintained a friendship and, after the deaths of Saurin Elizabeth and Percy, they married in 1953. In the last years of their lives they lived in Candy Cottage, West Clandon, Surrey.
In one of his last letters Leech wrote “You see not much success really but you cannot be a recluse all your life as I have been and have worldly success. I had a belief when young that if the work was good enough it would sell in the end.”[4]
Works
Leech was well known for his illustrations of Concarneau harbour. The works of Leech feature coastal and harbour scenes, landscapes, interiors, still life and portraits.
Some of his best-known works are that of his first wife, Elizabeth, and include A Convent Garden, Brittany (1913) and The Sunshade (1913), both of which are in the National Gallery of Ireland.[5] In 2012, a national poll conducted by Ireland’s State broadcaster, RTE, listed A Convent Garden, Brittany in the top ten of “Ireland’s Favourite Painting”.[6]
In 1996, the National Gallery of Ireland announced that it had incorrectly attributed Leech as the artist of Goose Girl, a c. 1921 painting in its collection that has the initials “WL” inscribed on the back of the canvass. The Gallery announced that new information led them to a “definitive reattribution of the painting” to Sheffield artist, Stanley Royle.[7]
See also
Notes
- ^ Daughter of Katherine Howard Lane and Francis Stribling Smith, born Jan 1879 in St Louis, Missouri, USA. She married first Fentress Gordon Kerlin (1864-1916), their daughter was Fentress Saurin Kerlin, (1897–1979). Katherine was the daughter of Rev. Saurin Eliot Lane (1818–1904).
References
Further reading
- Ferran, Denise (1996). William John Leech: An Irish Painter Abroad. Merrell Publishers. ISBN 978-1858940342.
- Campbell, Julian (1985). The Irish Impressionists, Irish Artists in France and Belgium 1850-1914. National Gallery of Ireland. ISBN 978-0903162159.
- Denson, Alan (1968). An Irish Artist W. J. Leech R H A. An Introductory Guide to his artistic career. University of California. ISBN 9780900904035.
