Leonard Ochtman was born at Zonnemaire, The Netherlands, on October 21, 1854, son of Jan and Hendrika (Fonteyne) Ochtman. His father was a decorative painter by profession; the son assisted him in his work and early displayed a talent for art. In 1866 the family sailed for America, the mother dying en route. The father and son settled in Albany, NY. Leonard attended the public schools there and in his sixteenth year entered en engraving office as a draftsman. His Sundays and holidays were spent in the country painting landscapes.

In 1877 he opened an art studio in Albany. Two years later he went to New York where he studied for a brief time at the ART STUDENT's LEAGUE, and opened a New York studio. In 1885 he went abroad, spending several months in travel and painting in England, France and Holland. (The work presented here probably originates from that trip.) In 1891 he moved to Greenwich, CN and for several summers he conducted art classes at his studio there.

Five years later he built his home and studio " Grayledge " in Cos Cob, Greenwich, where he produced many of his most notable paintings, although for some time he also maintained a New York studio, particularly for winter use. Except for the training he received in his single winter's course at the ART STUDENT' LEAGUE, Ochtman was self tought, drawing and painting directly from nature, yet he attained rank as one of America's foremost landscape painters. His best works found in public holdings are the following:

 
" Winter Light " - Metropolitan Museum of Art
" Sleeping Acrees " - National Institute of Arts and Letters
" November Morning " - Corcoran Gallery of Art
" A Gray Morning " & " Landscape " - Brooklyn Institute of 
Art and Sciences
" Frosty Acres " - City Art Museum, St. Louis
" Silent Morning " - Columbus Museum
" Twilight " - Hackley Art Gallery, Muskegon
" Winter Morning " - Museum of Art, Forth Worth
" Afternoon in Winter " - Denver Art museum
" Autumn Morning " - Bruce Museum, Greenwich, CN
" Greyledge Laurel " - Greenwich Library, CN
" A Morning in Summer " - Albany Institute of History and Art, NY

Many other paintings are to be found in private collections throughout the country.