Ernst Leyden (1892 - 1969)

Ernst Leyden

Oscar Moritz Ernst Leyden was born in Rotterdam in 1892. At the age of twenty-four he took part in an exhibition in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam with the group of Dr. Schoenmakers from Laren. At this exhibition, he got to know Piet Mondrian, Theo van Doeburg, Gerrit Rietveld and Bart van der Leck. These artists are now considered to be the leaders of the Dutch artistic movement, de Stijl.

Leyden travelled to exotic destinations all over the world, and on sold the works he painted there on his return. On his travels, he met Salvador Dalì, Marc Chagall, Bertold Brecht and Charlie Chaplin, all individuals who had a cultural impact on the twentieth century. Many of these gatherings involved commissions for murals or portraits.

Leyden lived in France and the United States. In the US, he painted a portrait of Gloria Vanderbildt. In 1937 he and his long-time friend Jan Sluijters had an exhibition in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam