Keith Leonard 1921 - 1993

Keith Leonard was a sculptor, teacher and occasional painter who was born in Birmingham in 1921.

His formal training was at the Slade School of Art in London from 1949-52 and after that he spent a year in Paris at the studio of Russian/French sculptor, Ossip Zadkine.

Returning to England he was an assistant to Barbara Hepworth in St. Ives from 1955 until 1959 and became a member of the Penwith Society in the town.

He was Head of Sculpture at Sunderland School of Art from 1959-62 and then at Farnham School of Art, 1964-67.

He took part in many mixed exhibitions included Gimpel Fils, London, 1954; Tate Gallery, 1958; New York World Fair, 1964-65 and the New Art Centre, London, 1986.

His solo shows included the Drian Gallery, London in 1958 and a Retrospective Exhibition at the Penwith Gallery, St.Ives, in 1994.

This sculpture by Leonard in wood and attached to a wooden base is called Standing Figure and dates from 1964. It had a total height of 82 cm and was in my collection for a number of years.

He's seems interesting but there seems to be very little information about him out there unlike some of Hepworth's other assistants who became quite well known. The only illustrations i can find are the three pieces that went through Sotheby's

I bought the sculpture above (swopped it really for several pieces of Troika) around 20 years ago and sold it this August. When coming up with a price I did try and find some info regarding sales and like you found very little. The person that I sold it to, who I have known for even longer said the same but we agreed on a price that I would be happy to let it go for otherwise I would keep it.

The pieces i referred to fetched between £3,500 and £6,300, all were worked a lot more than your example though and these prices were against lowish estimates.

Here's a photograph of Keith Leonard with gallery owner, Halima Nalecz, at the PV of his Drain Gallery in 1958. I met Halima several times towards the end of her life and during the Harlequin Gallery's existence I showed the work of a number of artists associated with the Drian in the 1950s/60s.

croker wrote:The pieces i referred to fetched between £3,500 and £6,300, all were worked a lot more than your example though and these prices were against lowish estimates.

I sold mine for a 3 figure sum, which was a profit on what I bought it for and I did get the enjoyment out of it as well.

There seems to be quite a lot on Halima and the Drian gallery online, interesting that she took the name from a shortened version of Mondrian.

Maybe I will start a separate thread about the lady.