Folder 492

[single page typed document]

NEWS ABOUT:

Scroll Award to W. R. Leigh by the Fine Arts Dept. of the N. Y. CITY FEDERATION OF WOMEN’S CLUBS, INC.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Mrs. Claire M. Senie, President of the New York City Federation of Women’s Clubs, Inc., announces that William R. Leigh whom Collier’s on November 11th last, called “America’s Sagebrush Rembrandt” has just been elected by a majority of the members of the 200 clubs in the five boroughs of New York as [remainder of sentence is underlined] the outstanding American painter who has contributed most to art in 1950. A scroll award will be presented to the artist on May 4th at the Hotel Astor at a ceremony sponsored by the Fine Arts Department of the Federation, whose chair-man is Miss Gaynell Brown. The ceremony will be part of the Annual Meeting of the 1,200 delegates of the Women’s Clubs. Other outstanding figures in the allied fields of poetry, drama, radio, and the cinema, to be announced later, will also be honored at that time. The choice of Mr. Leigh to represent painting in the Federation’s 1951 election was practically unanimous. It is interesting to note, however, that be-cause of the fast disappearing wild life of America — particularly in the desert lands of the West — one club in the Federation, the Natural History Club, was especially enthusiastic about the painter’s work from an historical and naturalistic viewpoint. The president of the club, Mrs. Charles Cyrus Marshall, is quoted as saying, “Mr. Leigh is the finest painter of outdoor life in America.” A born and bred Virginian and a descendant of Pocahontas, William Robinson Leigh is today realizing his life-long dream of familiarizing and interesting his fellow Americans with his adored West, its Indians, its animals, past and present, and its uniquely colorful terrain. This has come about through nation-wide art exhibitions in galleries and museums, newspaper and magazine articles and honors such as his present award by the New York Federation of Women’s Clubs, Inc. In the 1920’s, the artist made two trips to Africa with expeditions searching for big game groups for the American Museum of Natural History in New York and upon returning, painted the backgrounds for the habitat groups at the Museum. Further back, in 1906, he made his first trip to the West to paint cowboys, bucking broncos, and Indians. Today he is still painting them and is generally recognized as the only artist who combines knowledge and a love of historic America with a painting technique that grows richer with the years.