William Robinson Leigh (American, 1866-1955) Ornery Going, 1946 Oil on canvas 28 x 22 inches (71.1 x 55.9 cm) Signed and dated lower left: W.R. Leigh. / 1946. PROVENANCE: Hanes Corporation, Winston-Salem, North Carolina; John A. McCommas, Sr., Burgaw, North Carolina, gift from the above, circa 1965; Matthew Bryant, Rose Hill, North Carolina, by descent. William Robinson Leigh was born in rural West Virginia, where he demonstrated an early aptitude for drawing. Raised in a family that had suffered financial loss in the aftermath of the Civil War, Leigh nevertheless found support for his artistic ambitions through his extended family. At the age of fourteen, with financial assistance from his aunt and uncle, he enrolled at the Maryland Institute in Baltimore. There, he distinguished himself as a promising student before continuing his studies at the Royal Academy in Munich, where he received rigorous training in the principles and techniques of academic painting. Upon returning to the United States, Leigh initially struggled to establish a distinct artistic identity. Like many artists of his generation, he turned to illustration and historical subjects as a means of financial support. Although he had long envisioned traveling to the American West as a source of inspiration, economic necessity compelled him to spend nearly a decade working as an illustrator for major periodicals such as Collier's and Scribner's. Much like his contemporary Frederic Remington, Leigh found the commercial constraints of illustration limiting, particularly with respect to subject matter and stylistic freedom. A decisive turning point in Leigh's career came in 1906, when he entered into a mutually beneficial arrangement with the Santa Fe Railroad. This opportunity enabled him to travel extensively throughout the American Southwest, where he encountered landscapes and cultures markedly different from those of the eastern United States and Europe. Commissioned to produce images of the Grand Canyon and other Western subjects for promotional purposes, Leigh immersed himself in the region. Over the following years, he traveled widely across the Southwest and into areas such as Yellowstone in Wyoming and Montana, often painting en plein air under challenging conditions. Leigh's work represents a synthesis of European academic training and distinctly American subject matter. He brought a classical sense of composition, draftsmanship, and narrative structure to his depictions of the American West, encompassing its rugged landscapes, Indigenous communities, and frontier life of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Ornery Going, 1946, depicts a tense moment within a rocky canyon, where cowboys struggle to control a restless horse along a steep incline. The figures are set in the brilliant light of midday, with the figure in distress partially cast in shadow. Leigh employs a striking vertical composition, guiding the viewer's eye through the scene with strategic accents of bright yellow in the packhorse and the cowboys' neckerchiefs. At the center, a rearing horse, illuminated by sunlight that functions almost as a theatrical spotlight, serves as both the emotional and visual focal point. Its taut musculature and twisting form convey both physical power and resistance, embodying the untamed forces of nature. In the foreground, a beautifully rendered horse provides a calm counterpoint to the tension of the scene, contrasting with the cowboy who strains against a rope in an effort to subdue the animal. Leigh approached his paintings with meticulous care. He began with the background and worked forward to the primary figures in the foreground, first rendering forms in charcoal before developing them in oil. While on location, he often painted the same landscape at different times of day to capture the shifting qualities of Southwestern light with accuracy. Leigh's earlier experience as an illustrator undoubtedly informed his ability to construct compelling visual narratives, yet paintings such as this sprang entirely from his own imagination. They were conceived as dramatic vignettes of the Old West, stories of a time and place that continue to hold a powerful place in the popular imagination. Having remained in the same family for approximately sixty years, after being presented as a retirement gift from the Hanes Corporation, Ornery Going now makes its debut on the market. Both technically accomplished and emotionally resonant, the painting stands as a significant example within the canon of Western American art, affirming Leigh's legacy as a master visual storyteller. HID12401132022 © 2026 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved www.HA.com/TexasAuctioneerLicenseNotice

Hanes Corporation, Winston-Salem, North Carolina; John A. McCommas, Sr., Burgaw, North Carolina, gift from the above, circa 1965; Matthew Bryant, Rose Hill, North Carolina, by descent.

Condition report available upon request.
Framed Dimensions 28 X 34 Inches