Leon Kroll

Born in 1884, Leon Kroll was a first-generation American, whose parents immigrated to New York City from Poland. Kroll studied art at the Art Students League under the tutelage of John Henry Twachtman. He also trained at the National Academy of Design before moving to Paris, where he received instruction from Jean-Paul Laurens at the Académie Julian. Kroll staged his first solo exhibition at the National Academy of Design in New York City in 1910 and exhibited at the famed 1913 Armory Show, which introduced avant-garde artistic practices to the American public. Kroll taught at several schools, including the Art Students League, the National Academy of Design, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1930 and named Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1950. In 1935, he completed two murals, titled The Triumph of Justice and The Defeat of Justice, for the U.S. Department of Justice building in Washington, D.C.