- Fred Leist
Frederick William Leist (
21 August 1878 –20 March 1945 ) was anAustralia n artist and a member of several well known art societies including theRoyal Art Society and theNSW Society of Artists .Leist studied at the
Sydney Art School studying underJulian Ashton and beginning work in 1908 as ablack-and-white artist for "The Bulletin " and "Sydney Mail " newspapers, eventually moving onto the "Graphic" magazine in London.During the
First World War , Leist was one of ten artists resident in England appointed as an official war artist to serve with the Australian Imperial Force in France. He completed numerous paintings during the war and after his war service contributed two largemural s for the Australian Exhibition at theBritish Empire Exhibition held atWembley in 1924. As a result of these works Leist popularity increased and he gained several commissions from theUnited States and toured the south west of America.Returning to Australia in 1926, Leist took up a position as the Head of Painting at the East Sydney Technical College. Leist died at Mosman,
Sydney in 1945. He was survived by his wife Ada.Leist is represented in the
Art Gallery of New South Wales with ten works as well a representations in several private collections. Many of his paintings as a war artist are in the collection of theAustralian War Memorial inCanberra .References
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