Leon Gordon (painter)

Leon Gordon (1889–1943) was an American landscape and portrait painter, illustrator, and sculptor. He lived and worked in California, New York (state), Florida, and the Russian Federation.

Life

Gordon was born in 1889 in Borisov, modern day Belarus (then part of the Russian Empire). He later moved to the United States where he studied at the Art Institute of Chicago.[1]

Career

During his life, he painted portraits of Willa Cather,[2][3] Dorothy Gish,[4] Will Rogers,[5] President Calvin Coolidge, Benjamin Barr Lindsey,[6] Winston Churchill, John L. Lewis and Helen Keller.[7] His work was sold by Earl Stendahl.[8]

While he lived in New York, Gordon was a member of the Society of Independent Artists, and took part in their 1917 exhibition.[9]

In 1930, Good Housekeeping magazine commissioned Gordon to paint twelve portraits of "the twelve greatest American women"[10] (including Eleanor Roosevelt,[11] Grace Abbott[10] and Florence Sabin[12]) which were published once a month in the magazine through 1931.[13]

Permanent collections

Gordon's portrait of Eleanor Roosevelt is included in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.[14] His portrait of President Manuel L. Quezon of the Philippines is held in the permanent collection of the Presidential Museum and Library at Malacañang Palace in Manila.[15]

Death

Gordon died of a heart attack on December 31, 1943 in Tallahassee, Florida, where he had been painting the portrait of the parents of then US senator Claude Pepper.[16]

References
  1. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 3, 2016. Retrieved October 26, 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. Willa Cather (July 2009). Sapphira and the Slave Girl. U of Nebraska Press. pp. 445–. ISBN 978-0-8032-1435-4.
  3. Arts Magazine. Art Digest Incorporated. 1931.
  4. "Famous movie star sits for portrait".
  5. A.J. Liebling (December 10, 2008). The Telephone Booth Indian. Crown/Archetype. pp. 173–. ISBN 978-0-307-48066-8.
  6. "Informal portraits, snapshots, news photographs, etc., 1886–1941(?), of Benjamin Barr Lindsey". October 26, 1886 – via catalog.loc.gov Library Catalog.
  7. Willa Cather (1990). Willa Cather in Person: Interviews, Speeches, and Letters. U of Nebraska Press. pp. 120–. ISBN 0-8032-6326-0.
  8. Vieira, Mark A. (2013). George Hurrell's Hollywood: Glamour Portraits 1925-1992.
  9. Society of Independent Artists (New York (October 26, 2017). "Catalogue of the ... Annual Exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists ..." The Society – via Internet Archive.
  10. "Abbott, Grace : Photographic Archive : The University of Chicago". photoarchive.lib.uchicago.edu.
  11. Robert Henkes (January 1, 1997). Portraits of Famous American Women: An Analysis of Various Artists' Renderings of 13 Admired Figures. McFarland. pp. 97–. ISBN 978-0-7864-0326-4.
  12. Elinor Bluemel (1959). Florence Sabin: Colorado Woman of the Century. University of Colorado Press.
  13. Arthur, McKeogh; Magazine, Good Housekeeping (January 22, 1931). "Letter from Good Housekeeping Magazine to Florence R. Sabin". profiles.nlm.nih.gov.
  14. "Anna Eleanor Roosevelt". npg.si.edu.
  15. "A Guide to Malacañan's Presidential Museum and Library : Philippine Art, Culture and Antiquities". www.artesdelasfilipinas.com.
  16. http://fultonhistory.com/Newspapers%2023/Philadelphia%20PA%20Inquirer/Philadelphia%20PA%20Inquirer%201944/Philadelphia%20PA%20Inquirer%201944%20-%200019.pdf


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