“Wind on the Water,” Ruth Leaf, signed HC etching, 29.75×22.25 in., a serene circular shoreline landscape by the master American printmaker.

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“Wind on the Water,” Ruth Leaf, signed HC etching, 29.75×22.25 in., a serene circular shoreline landscape by the master American printmaker.

“Wind on the Water” is an original, hand-pulled etching by acclaimed American printmaker Ruth Leaf (1923–2015), pencil-signed and designated HC — an artist’s proof not originally intended for sale and typically reserved for the artist’s personal archive.

This elegant circular composition (tondo) captures a windswept shoreline with rolling waves, textured reeds in the foreground, distant winter-bare trees, and soft cloud forms drifting over mountain silhouettes. Leaf’s sensitivity to tonal etching, plate wiping, and subtle color layering creates a naturalistic yet slightly abstract atmospheric effect, expressing motion, rhythm, and serenity simultaneously.

A particularly beautiful example of Leaf’s landscape etchings, “Wind on the Water” embodies her mastery of intaglio techniques and her intuitive ability to transform nature into expressive design.

Artwork Description

Leaf’s distinctive technical approach is on full display here:

Tonal & Atmospheric Etching

Multiple plate tones create depth in the water, from soft mist-like grays to darker, wind-stirred ripples.

Circular Composition (Tondo)

Leaf frequently used circular framing to emphasize harmony and wholeness — echoing cycles of seasons and natural forces.

Dynamic Wave Textures

Fine etched marks, combined with selective wiping, give the waves a sense of lift and momentum as the wind pushes across the surface.

Foreground Detail

The reed clusters in the lower right display her Atelier 17–influenced linework: exacting, rhythmic, and subtly abstract.

HC Artist’s Proof

An HC impression is rarer than standard editions and signals a print the artist set aside. HC works are prized among collectors.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY — RUTH LEAF (1923–2015)

Ruth Leaf was a pioneering American printmaker whose artistic and instructional contributions shaped intaglio practice across the United States. Born in Brighton Beach, New York, she produced an extraordinary body of work exploring nature, abstraction, and expressive mark-making.

Education

Leaf trained extensively at major centers of American art and modern printmaking:

  • The Art Students League (NYC)

  • The New School for Social Research

  • Brooklyn College

  • American Artists School

  • Pratt Graphics Center

  • Atelier 17 under Stanley William Hayter — a pivotal period that defined her experimental, process-oriented approach

Exhibitions

She exhibited widely for over five decades at:

  • Library of Congress

  • Butler Institute of American Art

  • Carnegie Institute

  • Brooklyn Museum

  • Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts

  • Seattle Art Museum

  • LACMA

  • Galerie Art & Gravure, Paris

  • Chiba Shimin Gallery, Japan

  • Art in Embassies Program

  • Roko Gallery, Viridian Gallery, FAR Gallery, NYC

  • Major university galleries nationwide

Her retrospectives and invitational exhibitions cemented her status as a major figure in American printmaking.

Teaching & Influence

Leaf founded the Ruth Leaf Studio, taught at universities and community centers, and conducted monoprint and intaglio demonstrations throughout the country. Her teaching shaped generations of artists.

Publications

Leaf authored the landmark manual Etching, Engraving and Other Intaglio Printmaking Techniques (Watson-Guptill, 1976), still used today in art schools.

She appears in:

  • American Prize Prints of the 20th Century

  • Artists at Work

  • Dictionary of International Biography

  • Who’s Who in American Art

  • Who’s Who in American Women

Collections

Her works are held in:

  • Library of Congress

  • Hofstra University

  • Butler Museum

  • Bowdoin College

  • Portland Museum

  • Colgate University

  • New York University

  • United States Information Agency
    and numerous private and institutional collections.

Awards

Her dozens of honors include purchase awards from major institutions and medals for creative excellence in printmaking.

Artist’s Philosophy

Leaf believed in expressing “the essence of things” rather than literal reproductions. Her landscapes balance accuracy with abstraction, offering viewers multiple layers of emotional and visual engagement.

Ruth Leaf, Wind on the Water, signed etching, HC. 29.75 × 22.25 in. A serene circular shoreline composition by the museum-collected American printmaker.

Certificate of Value & Authentication

Artist: Ruth Leaf (1923–2015)
Title: Wind on the Water
Medium: Original hand-pulled etching
Edition: HC (Hors Commerce — artist’s proof)
Size: 29.75 × 22.25 in.
Signature: Pencil-signed
Condition: Excellent
Provenance: Mitch Morse Gallery → Artfind Gallery
Comments: HC impressions are scarcer and more desirable; strong example of Leaf’s late landscape etchings.

Provenance Chain

Artist → Ruth Leaf Studio → Mitch Morse Gallery (NYC, national & European acquisitions) → Artfind Gallery, Washington, D.C.

“Wind on the Water,” Ruth Leaf, signed HC etching, 29.75×22.25 in., a serene circular shoreline landscape by the master American printmaker.

“Wind on the Water” is an original, hand-pulled etching by acclaimed American printmaker Ruth Leaf (1923–2015), pencil-signed and designated HC — an artist’s proof not originally intended for sale and typically reserved for the artist’s personal archive.

This elegant circular composition (tondo) captures a windswept shoreline with rolling waves, textured reeds in the foreground, distant winter-bare trees, and soft cloud forms drifting over mountain silhouettes. Leaf’s sensitivity to tonal etching, plate wiping, and subtle color layering creates a naturalistic yet slightly abstract atmospheric effect, expressing motion, rhythm, and serenity simultaneously.

A particularly beautiful example of Leaf’s landscape etchings, “Wind on the Water” embodies her mastery of intaglio techniques and her intuitive ability to transform nature into expressive design.

Artwork Description

Leaf’s distinctive technical approach is on full display here:

Tonal & Atmospheric Etching

Multiple plate tones create depth in the water, from soft mist-like grays to darker, wind-stirred ripples.

Circular Composition (Tondo)

Leaf frequently used circular framing to emphasize harmony and wholeness — echoing cycles of seasons and natural forces.

Dynamic Wave Textures

Fine etched marks, combined with selective wiping, give the waves a sense of lift and momentum as the wind pushes across the surface.

Foreground Detail

The reed clusters in the lower right display her Atelier 17–influenced linework: exacting, rhythmic, and subtly abstract.

HC Artist’s Proof

An HC impression is rarer than standard editions and signals a print the artist set aside. HC works are prized among collectors.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY — RUTH LEAF (1923–2015)

Ruth Leaf was a pioneering American printmaker whose artistic and instructional contributions shaped intaglio practice across the United States. Born in Brighton Beach, New York, she produced an extraordinary body of work exploring nature, abstraction, and expressive mark-making.

Education

Leaf trained extensively at major centers of American art and modern printmaking:

  • The Art Students League (NYC)

  • The New School for Social Research

  • Brooklyn College

  • American Artists School

  • Pratt Graphics Center

  • Atelier 17 under Stanley William Hayter — a pivotal period that defined her experimental, process-oriented approach

Exhibitions

She exhibited widely for over five decades at:

  • Library of Congress

  • Butler Institute of American Art

  • Carnegie Institute

  • Brooklyn Museum

  • Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts

  • Seattle Art Museum

  • LACMA

  • Galerie Art & Gravure, Paris

  • Chiba Shimin Gallery, Japan

  • Art in Embassies Program

  • Roko Gallery, Viridian Gallery, FAR Gallery, NYC

  • Major university galleries nationwide

Her retrospectives and invitational exhibitions cemented her status as a major figure in American printmaking.

Teaching & Influence

Leaf founded the Ruth Leaf Studio, taught at universities and community centers, and conducted monoprint and intaglio demonstrations throughout the country. Her teaching shaped generations of artists.

Publications

Leaf authored the landmark manual Etching, Engraving and Other Intaglio Printmaking Techniques (Watson-Guptill, 1976), still used today in art schools.

She appears in:

  • American Prize Prints of the 20th Century

  • Artists at Work

  • Dictionary of International Biography

  • Who’s Who in American Art

  • Who’s Who in American Women

Collections

Her works are held in:

  • Library of Congress

  • Hofstra University

  • Butler Museum

  • Bowdoin College

  • Portland Museum

  • Colgate University

  • New York University

  • United States Information Agency
    and numerous private and institutional collections.

Awards

Her dozens of honors include purchase awards from major institutions and medals for creative excellence in printmaking.

Artist’s Philosophy

Leaf believed in expressing “the essence of things” rather than literal reproductions. Her landscapes balance accuracy with abstraction, offering viewers multiple layers of emotional and visual engagement.

Ruth Leaf, Wind on the Water, signed etching, HC. 29.75 × 22.25 in. A serene circular shoreline composition by the museum-collected American printmaker.

Certificate of Value & Authentication

Artist: Ruth Leaf (1923–2015)
Title: Wind on the Water
Medium: Original hand-pulled etching
Edition: HC (Hors Commerce — artist’s proof)
Size: 29.75 × 22.25 in.
Signature: Pencil-signed
Condition: Excellent
Provenance: Mitch Morse Gallery → Artfind Gallery
Comments: HC impressions are scarcer and more desirable; strong example of Leaf’s late landscape etchings.

Provenance Chain

Artist → Ruth Leaf Studio → Mitch Morse Gallery (NYC, national & European acquisitions) → Artfind Gallery, Washington, D.C.

“WIND ON THE WATER” -

RUTH LEAF - Etching - Signed & Numbered - HC

29.75 x 22.25  inches.     Image: 17.5  inches.

LIMITED EDITION HAND PULLED & DRAWN ORIGINAL ETCHING, NUMBERED & HAND SIGNED BY ARTIST. From the retired Mitch Moore Gallery Inc, NYC. Unmatted, never framed or displayed. Image area is in very good frameable vintage condition. 

ARTISTS BIO:   RUTH LEAF: 1923-2015

Born: Brighton Beach, Ny, USA

Place of Death: Venice, CA, USA

ARTIST'S STATEMENT: As a young artist I was very excited by the world around me, the color of a landscape, the shapes of people and things. I would try to express the feelings the visual world engendered in me in an expressionistic manner. Ad time went by, however, form, color, design and feelings became more and more exciting. I felt then that being more abstract allowed me to express the essence of things rather than reproducing what I saw. Although I have a definite idea about what the work I'm engaged in means to me, I expect people to have their own feelings about what they see. I am sure when people listen to a Bach concerto they don't know what Back had in mind, but they enjoy it anyway.

Ruth Leaf is an American artist best known for her prints, and the author of Etching, Engraving and Other Intaglio Printmaking Techniques (Watson-Guptill). Her work also includes woodcuts, solar prints, monoprints, and mixed media. Born in New York City.

  • EDUCATION:  New School for Social Research; Art Student’s League; Brooklyn College; American Artist School; and at Atelier 17 with the groundbreaking printmaker Stanley William Hayter.

  • EXHIBITIONS: She exhibited her work throughout the United States and abroad, and has work in many collections, including the Library of Congress, the U.S. Information Agency, the Butler Institute of American Art; Carnegie Institute; Brooklyn Museum; Seattle Art Museum; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; and numerous university museums. Boston Museum; Hofstra University; Olivet College' Roko Gallery, NYC; FAR Gallery, NYC; La Salle College; Viridian Gallery, NYC; Philadelphia Print Club; FAMLI Museum, NYC; University of Pittsburgh; Associated American Artists, NYC; Art in Embassies Program; Society of American Graphic Crtists; Chiba Shimin Gallery, Japan and Chine; DeCordova Museum; Ruth Leaf Sudio Retrospective, MY; Midge Karr Art Center, NY; Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

  • AFFILIATIONS: Leaf has been a member of the Society of American Graphic Artists; the American Color Print Society; National Society of Literature and The Arts; Boston Printmakers; Artists Equity; National Association of Women Artists; Los Angeles Printmaking Society; Philadelphia Print Club;  and regional printmaking groups.

  • POSITIONS: Ruth Leaf Studio-Director/Instructor; Monoprint Demonstrations - CA, WA, PA, NY, MD; North Shore Community Art Center- Instructor; Colby College-Consultant.

  • SOLO SHOWS: New York State University; Ashville Art Museum, NC; The Graphic Eye, NY; Steinhardt Gallery, NY; Wisconsin Union; Burnside Gallery, NY; Clark College, IAA; Firehouse Gallery, NY; West Room Gallery, NY; Cosmos Club, DC; Great Neck Library, NY (Monoprint Show, Curator/Exhibitor); Western Illinois University; Northern Illinois University; Galerie Art & Gravure, Paris, France; West Library State College, VA; Jacqueline Anhalt Gallery, CA; Escuala National, Mexico City, Mexico; Brandeis University Gallery, MA; Port Washington Library, NY; Northeastern University, MA; Queensborough College Gallery, NY (Invitational for Five Printmakers).

  •   COLLECTIONS: Library of Congress; Queens College, NY; Art in Embassies Program; Butler Museum, NY; Portland Museum, OR; Olivet College, MI; Northeastern University, MA; Hofstra University, NY; New York University; Adelphi College, NY; Colgate University, NY; Bowdoin College Museum of Art, ME; Teachers College, Columbia University, OH; Xerox Corporation, Statler Museum, CT; United States Information Agency; Emily Lowe Gallery at University of Miami; Nassau Community College, NY; Queensborough College, NY; Hunterdon County Art Center.

  • AWARDS: Library of Congress-Purchase Award; Hofstra University-Purchase Award; Olivet College-Purchase Award; Nassau Community College-Purchase Award; North Shore Community- Art Center-1st Prize in Graphics; Audubon Artists-Honorable Mention; The Rene Rosner Memorial Award, Courtesy of Long Island Printmakers Society; Springfield College-Honorable Mention; National Association of Women Artists-Edna Stauffer Award, Jeffrey Childs; Willis Memorial Award; Donna Miller Memorial Award; Audubon Silver Medal for Creative Graphics; American Society of Color Prints-Tonner Award.

  • Selected Bibliography
    Leaf, Ruth. Intaglio Printmaking Techniques. New York: Watson-Guptill, 1976.; American Prize Prints of the 20th Century-Albert Reese; Artists at Work-Ron Perkins; Dictionary of International Biography, Cambridge, England; Whos Who in American Art; Who's Who in American Women; Who's Who in the East; Video Film Interview, Port Washington Library; Radio Interview, Great Neck TV Station.

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