Leonard Long

Leonard Hugh Long (25 April 1911 – 3 November 2013) was an Australian painter of the Australian School of landscape painters.

Early years Born in Summer Hill, New South Wales, the son of a baker, Long was a landscape artist in oils. He was raised in Mittagong on the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales and showed an early aptitude for drawing. He painted his first painting at the age of 16. He started his working life as a watch-maker in nearby Bowral, later moving to Nowra for work.

Early career As a young man Long was a cyclist and rode his push bike long distances including the trip from Nowra back to Mittagong to see his sweetheart Mary whom he later married. In 1934, he and Mary settled in Nowra where they raised their family. They had twins Ray and Barry in 1936 and a daughter Carmel in 1938. By 1939, Long had become more seriously interested in Landscape Painting and spent more and more of his spare time painting. After returning from his civil service during the Second World War as a precision instrument maker, he sold his watch-making business to his partner and began full-time painting in 1955. His works may be found in many private collections and is represented in many public galleries around the world. At the age of 100, Long continued to paint every day and staged his centenary exhibition on 14 May 2011 at Kim Nelson Fine Art & Editions in Yass, New South Wales, not far from the nation's capital, Canberra. He attributed his continued health to an active life and a medicinal scotch in the afternoon.

Death Long died after a short illness on 3 November 2013 at the age of 102.