About The Artist
Cyril Leeper P.P.O.I.P., A.B.A.R., P.I.N.Y., is regarded as one of Canada’s finest portrait artists of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. He was born in Toronto and after Art School at The Grange (Ontario College of Art & design) under members of the Group of Seven and private tuition under H.D. Sheppard, he was given a scholarship in 1968 to study at the prestigious Accademia di Belle Arte di Roma, Italy and Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Madrid Spain, returning to Toronto in 1973 he apprenticed for six years under Kenneth Forbes, the top portraiture artist of his time with direct pedagogical lineage to the Great Masters; Anthony Van Dyck and Peter Paul Rubens.
In 2002 he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth “Gold Jubilee Medal” at Roy Thompson Hall and the Saskatchewan Medal at the Legislature in 2005 for his achievement in the Fine Arts.
With his classical training and practice of painting from life, Leeper has built a reputation for being the portrait artist for official portraits and the list of subjects reads like a “Who’s Who” of Canadian society. The list includes the Governor General of Canada, H.R.H., The Duke of York for Buckingham Palace ,Lieutenant Governors, Premiers, Titans of Industry, Chief Justices of the Supreme and Federal Courts, Brigadier Generals, Chancellors & Presidents of Universities across the Country.
In the U.K. he has painted the official portraits of numerous luminaries including Her Majestie’s Herald, Sir Henry Bedingfeld for the castle of Oxburgh Hall, Norfolk, Malcolm Muggeridge (illustrated on the cover of the “National Review”), and Lady Collin Campbell.
As former concertmaster for 9 years of the Huronia Symphony, York Strings, & Orchestra Esprit Alliance, he continues his interest in music as a classical violinist.
Cyril Leeper 