Biography
Born in New York City in 1884, Leon Kroll, an important American realist painter and respected teacher, exhibited widely during his career and amassed many prizes and accolades, including the election to National Academician in 1927. In 1901, Kroll studied at the Art Students League under famed American Impressionist, John Henry Twachtman, and circa 1908-9 at the Académie Julian in Paris withunder Jean Paul Laurens. Returning from Paris to New York in 1910, Kroll held a studio and befriended George Bellows. That same year, Kroll was honored with a solo-exhibition at the National Academy of Design and later exhibited in the legendary 1913 Armory show, in the company of the leading European and American artists of the period.
Kroll began painting Gloucester—a celebrated subject within his oeuvre—in 1912 as well as other popular Northeastern destinations.Exploring America’s bounties beyond New England, Kroll traveled to Santa Fe in 1917with Bellows and fellow realist painter Robert Henri. Notably, the three artists painted on Monhegan Island, Maine, the renowned artists’ retreat. Kroll remained close to Bellows and summered next door to his family in Camden, ME; he painted two major portraits of the Bellows family, currently in the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts and Mead Art Museum.
Kroll’s paintings are included in many prominent museum collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Denver Art Museum, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and the Detroit Institute of Arts. Indicative of the ever-robust demand for Kroll’s artwork, the Orlando Museum of Art added a major Leon Kroll work to their collection in 2010.
