Leonid Gechtoff
(1883-1941)
Leonid Gechtoff was born in Odessa, Russia in 1883. He received art training in Russia before fleeing to Cairo with his parents in his twenties to escape conscription into the army. Gechtoff spent time in Amsterdam, where he first began exhibiting his work, and then spent several years in Indonesia. In 1920 Gechtoff and his wife emigrated to the United States and settled in Philadelphia. He achieved success as an artist partially through the patronage of Dutch-born philanthropist Edward Bok. His work was featured at several exhibitions, as well as in a solo show at the Philadelphia Art Alliance in the early 1930s. Gechtoff is best known for his blending of post-Impressionism and expressionism which can be seen in his landscapes of the Philadelphia area and Cape May, New Jersey, where he spent his summers. Gechtoff is listed in the Archives of American Artists. His eldest daughter, Sonia, became a sucessful artist as well. Gechtoff died at age 58 in 1941.
