biography of Scott LEIGHTON (c.1849-1898)

Birth place: Auburn, ME

Death place: Waverly, MA

Addresses: Boston, MA (1880-97)

Profession: Animal painter

Studied: Harrison Bird Brown

Exhibited: Boston AC, 1878-91; NAD, 1883, 1886-87; PAFA Ann., 1884-85, 1887

Work: AGAA; Clark AI, Williamstown, MA; Phienix AM; Portland MA; U.S. Military Acad., West Point, NY

Comments: During the 1880s, his fame as a painter of race horses was firmly launched by the more than 30 lithographs of this subject published by Currier & Ives. As a young man, he had raised and traded horses to support his art studies, and by 1880 moved from Portland, ME, to Boston where he opened a studio. Among his important works are "Three Veterans," "The Smugglers," and "In the Stable." He also painted barnyard scenes showing various animals. Despite his success, something strange happened in the 1890s that led to his incarceration in the MacLean Insane Asylum, Waverly, MA, where he died. Also appears as Nicholas Winfield Scott Leighton.

Sources: Campbell, New Hampshire Scenery, 110; Falk, Exh. Record Series.