Leon Pescheret

Leon Rene Pescheret, also known as Léon-René Pescheret (March 15, 1892 – February 23, 1971) was a British-born American designer, watercolorist, etcher, and illustrator.

Early life Pescheret was born in the London suburb of Chiswick, England to French parents. His father was a chef for Queen Victoria until she died. Pescheret began his studies at the Royal College of Engraving in Kensington under Malcolm Osborne, and the Battersea Polytechnic (now called the University of Surrey) in London. In 1910, his father moved the family to Washington, D.C. and became chef for the British Ambassador to the United States. He was admitted to the Chicago Society of Etchers in 1928.

By the 1920s he was attending the Art Institute of Chicago, studying interior design under French artist and muralist . In 1934, Pescheret traveled back to Europe to study with , who was the color etcher to the court of Belgium.

He was previously married to Grace Wallar Pescheret (1884–1950); and in 1951, he married Katherine Louis Pescheret (née Firebaugh; 1898–1985).

Career Pescheret devoted his business to etching full-time by 1930. While exhibiting in 1933 at the Century of Progress, he became interested in color etchings. To study this craft, he returned to Europe and became the private pupil of Roger Hebbelinck, a famous color etcher, and gained practical knowledge in doing one and multiple plate work.

In 1936, he purchased the Halverson Home located on 519 West Main St., Whitewater, Wisconsin and opened his art studio and gallery there. For the next 31 years he produced both color and monochrome etchings from this studio. The annual winter visits expanded is visual understanding of the American Southwest. Pescheret speaking at the Sheboygan Women's Club in October 1938 recognized Arizona as one of the states "which offer the widest range of scenery." The Sheboygan Press reported that "From Arizona scenes he received inspiration for two unusual sketches, Spanish Yuca and the Coachwhip. The first shows the desert plant which grows to a height of 18 feet in full bloom against an azure sky, The Coachwhip or Devil's Walking Stick, is another form of giant cacti rarely seen anywhere else but in Arizona."

In April 1940 Pescheret visited Mexico, he would later speak publicly about the country as a "land of great contrasts, great wealth and extreme poverty, beautiful churches and the meanest hovels, marvelous climate and barren country." He visited Mexico City, Taxco, the floating island gardens of Xochimilco and Toluca documenting life and iconic details of places that could become that basis for etching. These photographic images were noted by the Freeport Journal Standard as "emphasizing detail rather than general effect. He presented the point of view of the artist, rather than the historian or anthropologist and this variation proved of special interest." In discussing the single plate color etching process with the Arizona Daily Star in 1942, Pescheret explained that he only produced six plates a year each an open edition of 200 prints. These prints are produced on large copper plates, the smallest 10 by 12 inches the largest 13 by 18 inches.

Through the 1940s Pescheret became a fixture in the Arizona art scene. In 1944 the Phoenix Writers Club published a volume of poetry titled "Random Arrows," Pescheret contributed a desert etching that was reproduced as the frontispiece of the book.

In 1946 Pescheret exhibited 24 color etching at an exhibit at the Arizona State Museum as part of a one-man show in Tucson, Arizona. The etching showed the southwestern desert and images of Wisconsin, Tennessee and New England. and in 1955 the Arizona State Museum exhibited thirty of his color etching. During the exhibit Pescheret gave a gallery talk. In 1957 his black and white and color prints were shown at the Tucson Art and Craft Market Gallery in Tucson.

Leon Pescheret closed the Whitewater studio in 1967, relocating to Tucson, Arizona. He died after a long illness on February 23, 1971, in a hospital in Tucson.

Desert etchings

Pescheret's desert etchings from Arizona, New Mexico and California blended his distinctive style with stark landscapes, open spaces and skies, romantic architecture and vibrant coloring. Many of his color images of Arizona were featured and distributed nationally in Arizona Highways Magazine.