Kathryn Woodman Leighton (March 17, 1875 − July 1, 1952) was an American artist, based in Los Angeles, California, best known for her Western landscapes and for portraits of Native Americans.
Early life and education Kathryn Woodman was born in Plainfield, New Hampshire, in 1875 (some sources give 1876), the daughter of Alfred Woodman and Marie Thomas Gallup Woodman. Her father was a Civil War veteran.Biographical Review Publishing Company. Biographical Review; containing life sketches of leading citizens of Merrimack and Sullivan counties, N. H. (Biographical Review Publishing Company 1897). AccessGenealogy.com. Web. 6 March 2016. Woodman graduated from Kimball Union Academy in Plainfield. She studied art at the Boston Normal Art School in Boston, Massachusetts.Phil Kovinick and Marian Yoshiki-Kovinick, eds., An Encyclopedia of Women Artists of the American West (University of Texas Press 1998): 188-189. "Our Artists in Person: Kathryn W. Leighton" Los Angeles Times (January 5, 1936): B7.
Career
Kathryn Woodman Leighton moved to Los Angeles with her husband in 1910. She had a studio at the couple's home on West 46th Street, in South Los Angeles."Figure Paintings by Kathryn W. Leighton", Los Angeles Museum Art News Bulletin (December 1931). She traveled to the Canadian Rockies in 1923,"Kathryn Leighton Exhibits at Ebell" Los Angeles Times (February 10, 1924): 30. and to Glacier National Park in 1925, to paint landscapes."Art Exhibit Given by Woman's Club" Covina Argus (March 5, 1926): 1. via Newspapers.com In 1926, she returned to Glacier National Park, this time as the guest of the Great Northern Railway, commissioned to paint scenes of life among the Blackfeet, including portraits of the tribal leaders.Ray Djuff, Chris Morrison, and Louis F. Hill. Glacier's Historic Hotels and Chalets: View with a Room (Farcountry Press 2001): 36. The railroad used Leighton's paintings to promote Western tourism, and Leighton's work turned from landscapes to Native American portraits."Kathryn Leighton Now Painting the Oklahoma Indians" San Bernardino County Sun (November 29, 1939): 8. via Newspapers.com "Kathryn Leighton in New Line Exhibit" San Bernardino County Sun (March 15, 1942): 9. via Newspapers.com She often used Native American actors as models in her Los Angeles studio.Patricia Trenton and Sandra D'Emilio, Independent Spirits: Women Painters of the American West, 1890-1945 (University of California Press 1995): 57-64. She painted a life-sized portrait of Los Angeles suffragist and clubwoman Florence Collins Porter in 1930.
Her paintings were not innovative in form, but they were hailed as "distinctive" and "historical" for their content; "Kathryn Leighton has painted the Indian aristocracy as Van Dyke painted the British aristocracy," declared a Los Angeles Times critic.Fred Hogue, "Indian Aristocracy Lives on Canvas: Character Studies from Brush of Kathryn Leighton Hailed as Proud Historical Record of Desert and Mountain Dwellers" Los Angeles Times (January 11, 1931): B13. However, another Los Angeles Times critic commented that the portraits "command my respect and admiration--and yet I do not personally like them."Arthur Millier, "Art and Artists: Indian Chiefs Put on Canvas" Los Angeles Times (July 22, 1928): C26.
Leighton served a term as president of the California Art Club, and was a member of the Los Angeles Art Association and the Laguna Art Association. In 1930, works by Leighton were exhibited at Knoedler Galleries in Paris.Alice Langelier, "American Jazz Acts in Paris Change Stage" Santa Ana Register (February 28, 1930): 16. via Newspapers.com Her work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1932 Summer Olympics. She had a solo exhibition of her works at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1940."Art and Artists: Kathryn Leighton's New Exhibition" San Bernardino County Sun (May 7, 1940): 9. via Newspapers.com She also donated some of her antique lace collection to LACMA.Woman's Collar, 19th century, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, gift of Kathryn W. Leighton.
Her brother Frederic T. Woodman was mayor of Los Angeles from 1916 to 1919, and displayed many of Kathryn's paintings in the mayor's office.
Personal life and legacy Kathryn Woodman married attorney Edward Everett Leighton in 1900; they adopted a son, Everett Woodman Leighton, who followed his father into a law career. She was widowed when Edward died in 1941,"Kathryn Leighton's Husband Is Called" San Bernardino County Sun (December 30, 1941): 8. via Newspapers.com "E. E. Leighton, Attorney, Dies" Los Angeles Times (December 30, 1941): A2. and she died in 1952."Mrs. Leighton, Noted Painter of Indians, Dies" Los Angeles Times (July 3, 1952): 17.
Leighton's paintings continue to be collected and exhibited, often in shows about women artists in the American West. In 2007 she was included in a show at the University of Wyoming Art Museum."Women's Work: A Century of Art by Women". Educational packet developed for grades K-12, University of Wyoming Art Museum. The Smithsonian American Art Museum has one painting by Leighton in its collection, a portrait of Iron Eyes Cody.Kathryn W. Leighton, "Cherokee Dancer (Portrait of Iron Eyes Cody)" Smithsonian American Art Museum collections.
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