Artist: Leonard Wren
Title:Lake Como Vista
Size:24x36
Edition: Signed and Numbered Limited Edition
Medium: Giclee on Canvas
About the Artist: Since focusing her skills as a landscape painter to recreate some of the world's most beautiful golf holes, Linda Hartough has become recognized as one of golf's leading artists. So extraordinary and realistic is her attention to detail that her oil paintings seem to come alive with a clarity that surpasses the camera.

Her work has gained international fame. She is the only artist ever commissioned by the United States Golf Association and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews to do the annual, official paintings and prints for the U.S. Open and British Open Championships. She has painted prestigious golf courses from the U.S. to Scotland to Hong Kong. Her paintings are so admired that they have earned a place on two ABC Television Golf Specials on famous golf holes hosted by Jack Nicklaus. Her paintings are in the collections of such famous clubs as Augusta National, Pine Valley and Laurel Valley. Hartough originals are also included in the private collections of Jack Nicklaus, Robert Trent Jones and Rees Jones.

A confirmed artist since the age of six, Linda was raised in the picturesque countrysides of Wilmington, Delaware and Louisville, Kentucky. Much of her early career was spent in Chicago where, after receiving her Fine Arts degree from the prestigious School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1970, she made a living by selling her paintings locally. In 1980, Linda moved to South Carolina near Hilton Head where, in addition to painting landscapes, portraits and horses, she raised miniature horses.

In 1984, she was commissioned to paint the 13th Hole at Augusta National, thus beginning her golf landscape career. After an enormous response to her work at the 1988 PGA Show in Orlando, Linda focused her career entirely on golf landscapes.

Linda's approach to capturing a great golf hole is by spending a week or more at each course, taking photographs at different times of the day to capture all possible lights. She then figures out what is important or memorable in each view of a hole and makes sure this is included in the painting. Her memory serves as a less objective image of the hole. The combination of the two provides the unique view found in each of her paintings.

"I really enjoy painting golf landscape. It is some of the most beautiful and varied landscape in the world combined with a deep, historical sense of tradition that transcends time. The painting is a success when both elements emerge."
The paintings of Leonard Wren exude his sincere joy for life and for the beauty of the world around him. Finding infinite inspiration in the everyday world, Leonard paints intimate scenes with grace and eloquence. He is able to convey the subtle splendor in scenes often overlooked by others. Leonard states, “It’s the duty of the artist to bring out the beauty of the simplest scene.”

PLEIN AIR PAINTER

As an Impressionist, Wren is intrigued by relationships of light and color. He goes directly to the outdoors to get the truth. As a plein air painter he must move quickly to eternalize on canvas his impression of the fleeting moment. By skillfully placing colors side by side allowing them to blend optically, he is able to capture light, color, atmosphere, and the illusion of depth exceptionally well. His paintings are full of color and life, having a sense of controlled spontaneity and liveliness in his brushwork. In essence they are a reflection of him.

INSPIRATION THROUGH TRAVEL

In addition to painting the beauty of the American landscape, Leonard enjoys traveling to new places to find inspiration. His journeys take him to locales such as Italy, France, Spain, and Jamaica. He is also intrigued with the wonderful light and variety in the landscape of Washington State, where he is building a new studio.

When Wren discovered Impressionism, specifically the work of Monet, he “began to see in a totally new way.” Despite having a young family to support, Leonard decided to pursue a career as an artist. He sought out a teacher who could help him learn to paint light and color, and every week for a year traveled from his home in Tulsa to Oklahoma City to study with Richard and Edith Goetz.

FOCUSING ON HIS CAREER

He quickly reached a point in his career where he was able to concentrate his efforts on his love of painting. In 1976, about a year after he began painting, Leonard closed his commercial design business, which he had owned and operated since 1964. After just a few years of painting, his inherent ability positioned Leonard as one of the leading American Impressionists.

EMOTIVE RESULTS

Leonard’s style and choices of subjects allow the viewer to relate to the paintings. Rather than rendering a detailed depiction of a scene, his loose interpretive brushwork conveys a peaceful moment in time. He leaves the detail to be interpreted by the individual viewer, thus creating a familiarity to his work. In addition, by including evidence of human existence in the landscape such as a quaint cottage, an old bicycle, a sidewalk café, or a path through a quiet garden, his paintings invite the viewer to participate in the narrative. They are quiet intimate moments, movingly expressive, which “provide relief from the complexities of life.”

To truly create a masterful painting, one must paint what one knows and feels. To truly create fine works of art, the approach must be a pure representation of the artist’s ideas or emotions. Because Leonard spends so much time painting outdoors, he has become very comfortable and knowledgeable about the world around him. Finding beauty and inspiration virtually everywhere, Wren is able to communicate what moves him. Art purely and simply reveals his love of life. Leonard says, “Sharing joy is what it’s all about.”