LEADER

leader, benjamin williams (1831- ), english painter, the son of e. leader williams, an engineer, received his art education first at the worcester school of design and later in the schools of the royal academy. he began to exhibit at the academy in 1854, was elected a.r.a. in 1883 and r.a. in 1898, and became exceedingly popular as a painter of landscape. his subjects are attractive and skilfully composed. he was awarded a gold medal at the paris exhibition in 1889, and was made a knight of the legion of honour. one of his pictures, "the valley of the llugwy," is in the national gallery of british art. see _the life and work of b. w. leader, r.a._, by lewis lusk, _art journal_ office (1901).