William R. Leigh
1866-1955
Burro
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas
DIMENSIONS: 20 x 24 inches
Signed and dated lower right
SOLD FOR: $114,000.00
Including Buyers Premium
2026 - APRIL,
LOT 285
Additional Information
Provenance:
Private collection, Arizona
This sweet little Burro is the subject of several paintings by William R. Leigh, including Hopi Burro, The Burro, Navaho Burro and The Good Friend. This painting, titled simply Burro, is the largest at 20 by 24 inches. While the origins of the painting are not known, more information can be gleaned from an unfinished oil painting seen in D.Duane Cummins’ 1980 book William Robinson Leigh: Western Artist. The title of the partially painted image is Hopi Burro, Hopi Reservation, Polacca, Arizona. Leigh visited the Navajo and Hopi people during a 1916 trip to the Southwest. The trip was so successful that the artist used material acquired during the trip in paintings for the next five years. “…Leigh scoured the Navajo reservation lands in an intensive study of their life and customs,” wrote Cummins. “He researched the Hopi with equal thoroughness, visiting their settlements in Walpi, Sipaulovi and Oraibi. Leigh produced literally stacks of sketches on numerous subjects including Indian life, burros, goats, desert scenes, plant life and cloud studies. He even painted the desert by lantern light at two o’clock in the morning in an effort to capture the effects of the moon. Beyond the vast collection of sketches he also acquired scores of photographs.”