“If we study Japanese art, we see a man who is undoubtedly wise, philosophic and intelligent, who spends his time doing what? In studying the distance between the earth and the moon? No. In studying Bismarck’s policy? No. He studies a single blade of grass.” -Vincent Van Gogh*

 

The inspiration for Victor Leger's painting is the thrill of thoroughly studying how to paint the light cascading across a hay field, or changing from moment to moment on the ripples of water in a lake. He loves the challenge of trying to recreate as accurately as possible the natural beauty of light in the environment. Victor says, “I think when people see a beautifully painted landscape they intuitively feel they are seeing in a way that is precious and new. They notice a radiance ordinarily overlooked.”

 

Victor has been painting since high school. He devotes a good portion of his time to plein air oil painting entirely on site. He paints in a variety of sizes; he paints on panel in order to get a higher definition in detail. The landscape he prefers to paint is the one right around his house and studio--Winchester Lake and the surrounding Litchfield County--the rural vistas of Connecticut. After purchasing a second home on the coast of Maine, he has expanded his range to include the Maine coast as well as the spacious Southwest; he has won awards done from these areas. 

 

His desire to capture the contrast of aerial perspective of deep space and the high detail in the environment up close is what makes the work stand out, especially in the larger paintings. “I want the viewers to get the sense that they are right there in the environment, that the painting is like a window on a wall opening into nature.”

 

During his high school years in Hartford Victor was fortunate to attend art classes everyday at the Wadsworth Atheneum, under the tutelage of artist Peter Waite. Following this experience, he entered his first year at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn with a full scholarship as a painting major. After five semesters he decided to try a different art school, and finished his Bachelor’s Degree of Fine Arts in painting at the San Francisco Art Institute in 1984.

 

Currently Victor is a member of the International Guild of Realism. He has won various national and international awards and his works are in private and public collections across the US and Canada. He has displayed in ten American museums in a show titled, “The New Reality, Realism in the 21st Century”. 

 

He lives in the house that his wife, MaryPat and he designed and built in 1988. Together they have raised three wonderful children and they are now enjoying their six grandchildren. He currently teaches art at the secondary level in the Torrington School District where he has been honored as Torrington's Teacher of the Year for 2010 as well as Secondary Art Educator for the State of Connecticut in 2015.

 

*from “Vincent Van Gogh, The Complete Letters of Vincent Van Gogh”, Vol. III, letter 594, to Theo, p. 180