EDUCATION/AWARDS:
1969 Pratt Institute, New York, BFA
1976 New York University, New York, MA
1999 E.D. Foundation Grant, New Jersey
TEACHING:
1979 Kent State Blossom Program
1979-present School of Visual Arts, New York
1989 National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, Master Teacher
1990-93 National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, Panelist
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
1978 Fischbach Gallery, New York
1979 Fischbach Gallery, New York
1981 Thomas Segal Gallery, Boston
1982 Fischbach Gallery, New York
1985 Fischbach Gallery, New York
1991 Fischbach Gallery, New York
1992 National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC
1994 Fischbach Gallery, New York
1998 Fischbach Gallery, New York
2000 Elaine Baker Gallery, Boca Raton, FL
2003 Cloistered Spaces and Other Environments, Fischbach Gallery, New York
2006 The Garden, Fischbach Gallery, New York
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
1978 Landscape/Cityscape, Art Gallery, State University of New York, Potsdam
Borderline Drawings, Iola Gallery, New York
1979 New York Now, Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ
A.J. Wood Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
The Urban Landscape, Wave Hill, Riverdale, NY
The New American Still Life, Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York
The Gallery, Kent State University, Ohio
1980 The Watercolor Still Life,” Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS - continued:
1980 Selections from the Fischbach Gallery, State University of New York, Cortland
On Paper, ICA, Virginia Museum, Richmond
Real, Really Real, Super Real, originated at the San Antonio Museum of Art, Texas;
traveling to; Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, and the Indianapolis Museum of Art,
Indiana
1981 A Feast for the Eyes: Contemporary Representations of Food, The Hecksher Museum,
Huntington, NY
Collector’s Gallery XV, The Marion Koogler McNay Art Institute, San Antonio, TX
Contemporary American Realists: Works on Paper, University Art Gallery, University
of Pittsburgh, PA
1982 Contemporary Realism, Brainerd Gallery, State University of New York at Potsdam
and Plaza Gallery, Albany, NY
Still Life/Interiors, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA
Fine Arts Faculty, School of Visual Arts, NY
Lower Manhattan from Street to Sky, Whitney Museum of American Art, Downtown
Branch, New York
1983 Realists Watercolors, Florida International University, Miami, FL
Contemporary American Women Painters, Rahr-West Museum, Manitowoc, WN
Contemporary Images of Watercolor: 1983, Allen Priebe Art Gallery, University of
Wisconsin at Oshkosh
In Honor of the Brooklyn Bridge, David Finley, Jr. Gallery, New York
1984 Painting/Photography, Thorpe Intermedia Gallery, Sparkill, NY
America Seen, Adams-Middleton Gallery, Dallas, TX
1985 American Realism: The Precise Image, The Isetan Museum, Tokyo and the Daimura
Museum, Osaka, Japan
American Realism, William Sawyer Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1985-87 American Realism: 20th Century Drawings and Watercolors, organized by the San
Francisco Museum of Art, California, traveling to: DeCordova and Dana Museum
and Park, Lincoln, MA; Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas,
Austin, TX; Northwestern University, Evanstown, IL; Williams College Museum of
Art, Williamstown, MA; Akron Art Museum, Ohio; Madison Art Center, Wisconsin
1986 Landscape/Seascape/Cityscape 1960-85, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA
and The New York Academy of Art, New York
Watercolor USA 1986, The Monumental Image, Springfield Art Museum, Missouri
Nature Morte: The Museum Considers the Still Life, Southern Alleghenies Museum of
Art, Loretto, PA
1987 Group Show, Fischbach Gallery, New York
1988 Contemporary American Realism: Selections from the Glen C. Janss Collection,
Sheehan Gallery, Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA
1989 First Annual A.D.A. Show, New York City
1989 Summer Show, Fischbach Gallery, New York
1989 Gallery Artists, Fischbach Gallery, New York
Second Annual A.D.A. Show, New York City
1990 Flaneur/Flaneuse: Out for a Stroll, Barbara Fendrick Gallery, New York
1991 New Horizons in American Realism, Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, MN
Urban Realism, Boise Art Museum, Boise, ID
Urban Icons, Klarfeld Perry Gallery, New York
Urban Realism, Boise Art Museum, Boise, ID
1991-92 Dual Cultures: China and USA, Six Realist Painters, Nassau County Museum of Art,
Roslyn Harbor, NY
1993 Contemporary Realist Watercolors, Sewall Art Gallery, Rice University, Houston, TX
Excellence in Watercolor, New Jersey Center for the Visual Arts, Summit, NJ
Paintings from the Commerce Bancshares Collection, Lakeview Museum of Arts and
Sciences, Peoria, IL
1993-94 American Realism: The Urban Scene, Boise Art Museum, Boise, ID; traveling to:
Redding Museum and Art Center, Redding, CA; Albany Museum of Art, Albany,
GA; Canton Art Institute, Canton, OH; Paine Art Center and Arboretum, Oshkosh,
WN; Philharmonic Center for the Arts, Maples, FL; Sunrise Museums, Charleston,
WV; The Rockwell Museum, Corning, NY; Muscatine Art Center; Muscatine, IA
1994-95 New York Realism Past and Present, Odakyu Museum, Tokyo; Kagoshima City
Museum of Art, Kitakyushu Municiple Museum of Art, The Museum of Art Kintetsu,
Osaka; Fukushima Prefectural Museum of Art, Tampa Museum of Art, Florida
1995 American Art Today: Night Paintings, Art Museum at Florida International University,
Miami, FL
1997 Realism in 20th Century American Painting, Ogunquit Museum of American Art,
Olgunquit, ME
Get Real, Duke University Museum of Art, Raleigh-Durham, NC; curated by Virginia
Bonito
1999-2001 Together/Working, traveling exhibition curated by Judith Swirsky: The Art Museum, University of New Hampshire, Paul Creative Center, Durham; The Emily Lowe Gallery, Hofstra University, New York; Gallery of contemporary Art, Colorado Springs.
2001 Contemporary American Realism III, M.A. Doran Gallery, Tulsa, OK
2002 H20 ’02: Paintings of Water, Fischbach Gallery, New York
2002-2003 6 Realists, General Electric Company, Fairfield, CT
2003 Facing Reality: The Seavest Collection of Contemporary Realism, Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, NY
2004 179th Annual, National Academy Museum, New York, NY
Little Worlds, Fischbach Gallery, New York, NY
Gone Fisching: Paintings of Summer, Fischbach Gallery, New York, NY
2006 The Chelsea Classic, Fischbach Gallery, New York, NY
2007 Sprigbreak, Fischbach Gallery, New York, NY
ARTICLES AND REVIEWS:
Poroner, Palmer. “New Directions of the Seventies,” Art Speak, 1979
Price, Hardy. “New York Art Scene at Museum,” The Arizona, Apr. 25, 1979
Marberger, A. Aladar, “New Faces/New Images,’ Ocular Magazine, v. 5 , no. 4 (Winter), 1980.
Friedman, John R. Arts Magazine, Jan. 1980.
Merrit, John. “On Paper,” Richmond Times-Dispatch, Sept. 9, 1980.
Parks, Jeanne. “Springtime on Canvas,” Newsday, Apr. 10, 1981.
Guiliano, Charles. “At the Galleries,” Boston Ledger, Apr. 17, 1981.
Raynor, Vivien. “Pooling of Resources Produces Stimulating Success,” The New York Times,
Feb. 7, 1982.
Raynor, Vivien, “Art: Lower Manhattan Unfurled in Federal Hall,” New York Times, Feb. 26, 1982
“New Editions,” Artnews, Apr. 1982 (p. 106)
Giachetti, Romano. “E Dopo Gli Anni Della Fame Ecco Il Trionfo,” Epoca, June 18, 1982
“Painting/Photography Exhibit Explores the Meld,” Journal News, Mar. 23, 1984
Bastien, Linda. “Leigh Behnke,” National Art Education Association Bulletin, 1985.
Cohen, Ronny, “Leigh Behnke,” Art Forum, May 1991.
“A Celebration of Cities,” The Washington Sun, Jan. 23, 1992.
Welzenbach, Michael. “Cities’ Light in Several Shades,” The Washington Post, Feb. 1, 1992.
Southwick, Jessica, “Three Artists Provide Personal Perspectives,” The GW Hatchet, Feb. 20, 1992
Raynor, Vivien. “An Attractive Exhibition of What Watercolor Can Do,” The New York Times,
Feb. 13, 1994.
Kramer, Hilton, “American Upstarts Harley, Homer, Ault Dominate at Armory,” New York Observer,
Feb. 26, 2004.
BOOKS
Chwast, Seymour and Steven Heller. The Art of New York. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1983.
Krantz, Les. American Artists—An Illustrated Survey of Leading Contemporary Artists. Chicago:
Krantz Publishing, 1985.
LeClair, Charles. The Art of the Watercolor. Spectrum Books, Prentice Hall, 1985.
Martin, Alvin. American Realism: Twentieth Century Drawings and Watecolors. New York:
Harry N. Abrams, 1986.
Finch, Christopher. Twentieth Century Watercolors. New York: Abbeville Press, 1988.
Glueck, Grace. New York—The Painted City. Salt Lake City: Peregrine Smith Books, 1992.
Heller, Jules and Nancy. North American Woman Artists of the Twentieth Century. New York:
Garland Publishing, 1995.
Kahn, Robin. Time Capsule: A Concise Encyclopedia by Women Artists. Creative Time and SOS
International, 1995
Bonito, Virginia Ann. Get Real: Contemporary American Realism from the Seavest Collection.
Durham: Duke University Museum of Art, 1998.
Campellini, Leda. Leigh Behnke Real Spaces, Imagined Lives. Padova: Coop. Libraria Editrice Universita di Padova, 2005.
PUBLISHED ILLUSTRATIONS:
Andersen, Kurt, Riches & Celebres, Le Livre de Poche/Calmann-Levy, 2002. Cover “Downtown: Evening Light,” 1989.
Bradbury, Malcolm, The Modern American Novel, Oxford University Press, 1992 ed. Cover
“Winter Solstice: The City at Twilight,” 1988 (Private Collection: Geneva).
Herman, Arnold, To Think Like God, Parmenides Publishing, 2005, “Light Study with Mirror” 1981
Metropolis, Avon Books, 1987, Cover.
New York Magazine, Oct. 21, 1985. Title page, Real Estate Section; “Geometric Configuration
Parallel Perspective Study,” 1982 (Collection: Criswell Development, Dallas).
Oats, Stephen B., Portraits of America, Houghton-Mifflin Co., v. 2, 4th ed. Cover,
“Brooklyn Bridge Comparative Study,” 1980 (Collection: Deloitte and Touche, New York).
Sedgwick, Martha, American Gothic, 1984.
CATALOGS:
Brainard Art Gallery, State University of New York at Potsdam, Landscape/Cityscape;
Louis Meisel, 1978
Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ, New York Now; Robert Frankel, 1979.
San Antonio Museum Association, San Antonio, TX, Real, Really Real, Super Real; Sally Booth,
Alvin Martin, Linda Nochlin, and Philip Pearlstein, 1981.
Institute of Contemporary Art of the Virginia Museum, Richmond, and the Richmond Artists
Association, On Paper; Barbara Ames and Julia Boyd, 1980.
Hecksher Museum, Huntington, NY, A Feast for the Eyes; Anne Cohen DePietro, 1981.
Brainard Art Gallery, State University of New York at Potsdam, Contemporary Realism;
Joseph Hildreth, 1982.
School of Visual Arts, New York, Fine Arts Faculty; Jeanne Siegel, 1982.
Contemporary American Oil Painting, Jia Difei essay) and Scott Wampler (editor).. Changchun, China: Jilin Fine Arts Publishing House, 1999.
Allen Priebe Gallery, University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh, Contemporary Images of
Watercolor: 1983; Bev Harrington, 1983.
David Findlay Gallery, New York, In Honor of the Brooklyn Bridge; John Yau, 1983.
Adams-Middleton Gallery, Dallas, TX, America Seen: Contemporary American Artists View
America; Alvin Martin, 1984.
Asahi Shimbun and The Brain Trust, Tokyo, Japan, American Realism: The Precise Image;
John Arthur, 1985.
Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA, Landscape, Seascape, Cityscape; Lowery Sims, 1986.
Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Loretto, PA, Nature Morte: The Museum Considers the
Still Life; Michael Allison, 1986.
Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, MO, Watercolor USA 1986: The Monumental Image;
William Landwehr, 1986.
A.D.A., First Annual Show catalog, 1989
Flint Museum of Art, Flint, MN, New Horizons in American Realism, Christopher Young, 1991.
New Jersey Center for Visual Arts, Summit, NJ, Excellence in Watercolor; Sharon Gill, 1994.
The Japan Association of American Art Museums and Brain Trust, New York Realism—Past and
Present, Douglas Dreishpoon, 1994.
The Art Museum at Florida International University, Miami, American Art Today: Night Paintings,
Dahlia Morgan, 1995.
New American Paintings: Juried Exhibitions in Print, Open Studios Press, June 1997.
The Art Museum, University of New Hampshire Paul Creative Center, Durham, Together/Working,
Judith Swirsky, Curator, 1999.
PUBLIC AND CORPORATE COLLECTIONS:
Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, NH
Georgetown University, Washington, DC
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge
New York Public Library, New York
Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, Missouri
Tamasullo Gallery, Union County College, Cranford, NJ
ABD International Management Corporation, New York
AKZO America Inc., New York
Best Products Company, Inc., Richmond, VA
Cahill Gordon Reindel, New York
Cargill Inc., Minneapolis, MN
Corcoran Group, New York
Commerce Bancshares, Inc., Kansas City, MO
Comras Company, Miami, FL
Criswell Development Company, Dallas, TX
Deloitte & Touche, New York
Dreyfus Corporation, New York
Financial Guaranty Insurance Company, New York
Fox/ Paine, Foster City, CA
General Electric Corporation, Fairfield, CT
Grey Advertising, Inc., New York
H.J. Heinz Corporation, Pittsburgh, PA
INA Corporation, Philadelphia, PA
Little Caesar Enterprises,, Inc., Detroit, MI
Mastercard International, New York
Marsh and McLennan Companies, New York
McCaslin Properties, Dallas, TX
Mound, Cotton and Wollan, New York
NYNEX Corporation, New York
Charles E. Smith Construction Company, Crystal City, VA
Sidley, Austin, Brown & Wood, New York
Southeast Banking Corporation, Florida
Xerox Corporation, New York
Young and Hampton, Houston, TX
Zurich, Kemper Financial, Illinois
SELECTED PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Anderson, New York
Mr. Bryan Bantry, New York
Mr. and Mrs. A.M. Barnes, Florida
Mr. and Mrs. E. Jean Belloni, Switzerland
Mr. and Mrs. Michael Bennahum, New York
Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Caplan, New York
Mr. Guy Carpenter, New York
Dr. and Mrs. Robert Carroll, New York
Mr. Leon Cooperman, New Jersey
Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Davis, Massachusetts
Mr. Philip Desind, Maryland
Mr. and Mrs. Fred Epstein, Florida
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Erskine, California
Mr. and Mrs. George Field, California
Mr. and Mrs. M. Finkelstein, New York
Mr. and Mrs. Martin Flusser, New Yrok
Mr. Fred Gerard, New York
Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Goldberg, New York
Mrs. Pauline L. Harrison, New York
Dr. and Mrs. Joseph E. Imbriglia, Pennsylvania
Mrs. William C. Janss, Idaho
Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan C. Lee, Massachusetts
Mrs. Vera List, New York
Mr. Stephen Mallis, New York
Mr. and Mrs. Philip Margolin, Oregon
Mr. Peter May, Connecticut
Mr. and Mrs. Duncan McFarland, Massachusetts
Ms. Jan Nicholson, New York
Mr. George J. Perutz, Texas
Ms. Stacey Phillips, New York
Mr. John Quisenberry, New York
Mr. and Mrs. H. Rosenfeld, New Jersey
Mr. Laurence F. Ross, Pennsylvania
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Segal, New York
Mr. and Mrs. Donald H. Siskind, New York
Mr. and Mrs. Howard Tullman, Illinois