Soon to be 29 years old, Eric Leichtung is the youngest of the Fire Island and Great South Bay cover artists to date. However, his technique is so developed that one might think his oil paintings are from the hands of a more seasoned artist. There is some reason for that. He is a Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) graduate, often cited as one of the country’s finest art and design colleges, and Eric speaks passionately about his art.
“I’m obsessed with plein air painting; I just love it so much! said Leichtung during our interview. “What started as a practice in art 200 years ago in France became a deeply American tradition with guys like Thomas Cole and Frederic Edwin Church going deep into the landscape to produce these beautiful and sublime works that eventually inspired our national parks system. So, there’s all this cool history behind going out to paint nature – just to be out there and record what’s in front of you in real-time.”
Eric speaks of filling up sketchbooks in his youth and his parents encouraging his emerging talent. He also spoke fondly of professors at RISD who helped mentor him.
Since childhood, he has spent summers in Ocean Bay Park with his family and knows Fire Island well. However, he also spoke of years when he spent less time on the island during his adolescence and then reconnected with it again in young adulthood.
“I rediscovered the natural beauty of Fire Island,” he explained. “I kind of fell in love with the flora and the atmospheric effect you see living at a sandbar.”
His precise landscapes are immediately recognizable as Fire Island locations, as he captures how the foliage grows shaped by wind and salty ocean air within the unique barrier beach conditions.
He already enjoys representation with an interior design studio in Manhattan and a gallery he mentioned in Vermont. However, he presently makes most of his income from teaching with an institution known as the Grand Central Atelier, a not-for-profit organization devoted to the tradition of classical painting instruction.
We discovered Eric while visiting Ocean Bay Park’s Art in the Park Gallery. Knowing his family, Linda Roach sought him out when she decided to open her gallery this summer. As the gallery shares its space with Luxury Fire Island Homes Real Estate’s new Ocean Bay Park office, the selection was a natural match to adorn this special real estate edition of Fire Island & Great South Bay News.
Artwork created by local talent can be key to turning your Fire Island dream house into a dream home. Consider the investment.
