Leslie was born in London, the son of notable genre
painter Charles Robert Leslie, R.A. His uncle Robert Leslie was a marine
artist. He studied art first at "Cary's art academy", then from 1854 at
the Royal Academy. His first exhibition at the Academy was in 1859, and
he showed his work every year thereafter. He became an Associate (ARA)
in 1868 and a full Royal Academician (RA) in 1876.
Leslie lived
early on in St John's Wood (London), and was part of the St John's Wood
Clique, a group of artists who favoured light-hearted genre subjects.
From 1884-1901 he was resident at "Riverside", St. Leonard's Lane,
Wallingford, Oxfordshire. His sister Mary Leslie (1833-1907), also an
artist, lived at "Cromwell Lodge" next door. Fellow artist, James
Hayllar, was also a resident of the village and they painted a portrait
of Queen Victoria together for her Golden Jubillee in 1887. From 1906 he
lived at "Compton House" in Lindfield, Sussex
His early works,
such as "Mathilda" (1860) showed the strong influence of the
Pre-Raphaelites, but he settled into a more academic, aesthetic, style
of painting with the aim of showing "pictures from the sunny side of
English domestic life". He often used children as subjects and his work
was praised by John Ruskin for its portrayal of the "sweet quality of
English girlhood". One of his pictures, "This is the Way we Wash our
Clothes" was used as a poster in an advertising campaign for soap.
Despite its apparently trivial subject matter, however, Leslie's work
was highly regarded by critics of the time.
The author's punt (from Leslie's book "Our river", 1888)
Leslie
was also an author and had several books published. "Our River" (1888),
"Letters to Marco" (1893) and "Riverside letters" (1896) were all
illustrated by him in black and white, and based on personal
observations of life and nature in his local area. He also wrote a
history of the early years of the Royal Academy - "The inner life of the
Royal Academy".
Leslie was married to Lydia. They had a daughter
Alice (depicted in his painting "Alice in Wonderland") and a son Peter
Leslie (1877-1953) who was also an artist. Amongst Leslie's artistic
friends and acquaintances were Sir Edwin Landseer, Frederick Walker and
Henry Stacy Marks.
In June 2000, "The Daughters of Eve",
considered to be one of Leslie's finest paintings, and which had hung
unnoticed for 40 years in a south Wales school (Llantarnam
Comprehensive), was sold for £170,000 to a private collector. The money
raised was used to fund much needed building work to the school.
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