Robert de Leon
Robert de Leon’s paintings draw on the places he has known and the people who have become part of his life. Across nearly sixty years of painting, he has developed a deeply personal view of the American West, shaped by friendship, travel, and memory. His command of composition gives these experiences a convincing life in paint. Each scene carries something of the encounter that inspired it, seen through an eye that is unmistakably his own.
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A Story in Paint
“Create a story” is how Robert describes his work. He brings a scene together through the posture of a figure, the placement of a horse, or the sweep of land beneath a changing sky. His titles suggest a conversation or introduce a question, giving the viewer another reason to linger.
Memory and photographs provide material that he reshapes through composition. What he chooses to include, and how he brings it together, gives each painting its character. There is a sense of something happening beyond the frame, of lives continuing after the moment he has chosen to paint.
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People Behind the Paintings
The people Robert paints have a place in his life. Friends and acquaintances bring with them conversations, shared meals, and years of knowing one another. He remembers their manner as well as their appearance, the small details through which a person becomes familiar.
His gentle nature and warm smile make conversation easy. That interest in people carries into the work, where a face or gesture belongs to someone with a story of their own. Robert gives those individual lives a presence within the larger scene.
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A Life in the Studio
Robert paints every day at his studio and gallery in Lewisville, Texas. Years spent living and working in Santa Fe remain part of a practice that continues to develop. He returns to paintings while they are still in his studio, making adjustments as his eye asks more of them, and frames the work himself.
Painting has brought him lasting friendships and a community of collectors, artists, and people who enjoy being around the work. He welcomes that company and takes pleasure in showing what he is making.
Meet Robert de Leon: Featured Artist at Field & Found
A Story in Paint, by Caleb Gomez
Robert de Leon has a story for nearly every painting. Sometimes it begins in Santa Fe, sometimes around a chuckwagon, sometimes with a face he has known for years. Before long, the person on the canvas has a name, a voice, and something to say.
At Field & Found, we’re pleased to share his work and introduce the man behind it. Nearly sixty years into...