American Master of landscape and genre scenes Willard Leroy Metcalf

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Willard Leroy Metcalf (1858-1925) is an American painter, mostly an landscape painter and author of genre scenes. Wrote in a manner close to impressionism.

He was born in Lovell, Massachusetts, in a working family. The first experiments of Metcalfe in the field of painting date from 1874, around the same time he begins attending evening classes at the School of the Arts of Massachusetts. In 1876, Metcalfe attended DB Loring's studio in Boston, where he received a scholarship to study at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts of Boston. There he studied until 1878 in the studio of W. Rimmer.

In 1881, Metcalfe worked in the journal “Harper's and Century”, illustrating articles on the Zuni, a tribe of Native Americans. His
fascination with the traditions and rituals of the Zuni led to the fact that he even had to postpone study for one year abroad, as Metcalfe joined the expedition anthropologist F.Cushing. Metcalfe became one of the first artists to document the Indians of New Mexico and Arizona, introducing them to a huge audience of readers.There is a legend that he was even made an honorary member of the Zuni tribal council. In February 1882, Metcalfe organized an auction of his works in order to raise money for a trip to Europe and in 1883 went to Paris. There he studied at the famous Academy of Julian. In France, the artist lived for five years.

After his return to the United States in 1890, Metcalfe organized a solo exhibition at the club "St. Botolph" in Boston (works written during travels in France and England, as well as during his trip to Africa). Then the artist lives for some time in Philadelphia, and in 1890 opens his studio in New York, working for several years as a portraitist, illustrator and teacher. In 1890, he taught for several years at the Cooper Union Women's Art School in New York, and then at the New York School of
the Arts of the League of Students. In 1893 he became a member of the American Society of Watercolorists (New York). In 1895, Metcalfe ceased to work as an illustrator, focusing on landscapes. In 1898, Metcalfe became one of the founders of the famous group of artists "Ten", who rebelled against the harsh restrictions of the National Academy of Design.

One of the indicators of his reputation as an artist was the painting "Benediction", sold for $ 13,000 - is the highest price ever paid for a picture of an American artist of that time. In 1925, a large exhibition of the works of Metcalfe was held in the
gallery of Corcoran, shortly after which the artist died of a heart attack in New York, at the age of 66.