Lee H. Letts

Lee Harold Letts (born 1951), American artist, sculptor, painter and goldsmith, is primarily known for his bronze sculptures of birds and animals. His practice is based on the principles of traditional studio craftsmanship, as well as the importance of studying under a master in the manner of the American artists who studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. The beauty of nature is the primary theme of his artwork. He holds a unique position as a bronze sculptor trained as a goldsmith.

Philosophy

Letts' philosophy of art is to follow the traditional techniques of the master craftsman, in sculpture, painting, and the art of the goldsmith. However, he stresses that the emotional content and the technical must be on even terms in order for a work to be better than good. Returning to the US in 1978, Letts focused on sculpting life-size birds to cast in bronze. He worked from study skins in the collection of the Charleston Museum, and observation from life outside his studio at Longwood (part of the old rice plantation culture on the Waccamaw River) This was one of the last sculptures to go into the collection under the old auspices of Archer Huntington's standards, overseen by De Lue. At the time, Letts was the youngest sculptor ever to be included in the collection.

De Lue wrote in 1985:

... There was a fine school of pioneer artists who recorded so much of our natural wild life now a national treasure of the finest quality. Audubon and Catesby high on this list. Lee Letts, a native of South Carolina has worked in this great American tradition. A most sincere artist devoted to the high principals of his artistic and scientific forbears ... He is a fine naturalist and studies his birds in their natural habitat and he makes many drawings, anatomical studies, clay models and expert bronze castes [sic] doing most of his own chasing choosing his bronze and adding a patina that most suits the type of bird now in everlasting bronze. Mr. Letts ... ably continues as the recorder of native wild life ... He is a perfectionist in all that he executes. There he developed his work in bronze, applying his knowledge of the time-honored methods of lost-wax casting to carefully oversee the process that had been perfected by Riccardo Bertelli

Letts' bronzes have been exhibited at Hammer Galleries, J.N. Bartfield Galleries,

Influences

In addition to Donald Harcourt De Lue and Alexander Phimister Proctor (who produced the equestrians for Augustus St. Gaudens), other artists who have influenced Letts' career are John LaFarge, Paul Manship, Louis Comfort Tiffany, Daniel Chester French, and Benvenuto Cellini. An Animalier at heart, Letts draws his inspiration from many other great American painters as well, including Martin Johnson Heade. a 501(c)3 non-profit lecture series. They have studios in Charleston, South Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia.