Benjamin Williams Leader

Background

Benjamin Williams Leader was born on March 12, 1831 in Worcester. His father, E. Leader Williams, was an engineer.

Education

Benjamin Williams Leader received his art education first at the Worcester School of Design and later in the schools of the Royal Academy.

Career

Leader began to exhibit at the Academy in 1854, was elected A. R. A. in 1883 and R. A. in 1898, and became exceedingly popular as a painter of landscape. His subjects are attractive and skilfully composed. He was awarded a gold medal at the Paris Exhibition in 1889, and was made a knight of the Legion of Honour.

Achievements

• Leader's early works bore the influence of the Pre-Raphaelites with their attention to fine detail and emphasis on painting from nature "en plein air". In his later years he adopted a looser style which was more impressionistic rather than being an exact copy of nature and this proved to be more popular. According to The Art Journal of 1901, amongst Leader's most popular works during his lifetime were, In Autumn there shall be light, February Fill Dyke and The Valley of the Llugwy. And amongst his best works at the time it considered: Romantic Tintern – dreaming in the moonlight, In the evening it shall be light and The Old Holyhead road through North Wales. One of his pictures, " The Valley of the Llugwy, " is in the National Gallery of British Art.

Connections

Father:

Edward Leader Williams

Edward Leader Williams was a notable civil engineer.

Mother:

Sarah Whiting

References

• The life and work of B. W. Leader, R. A.,
• Benjamin Williams Leader RA, 1831-1923: His Life and Paintings