He was born in
Zonnemaire,
Netherlands as the son of a decorative painter. His family moved to
Albany, New York in 1866. Starting at a young age, Ochtman worked as a draftsman at a wood-working firm in Albany. In 1879, Ochtman moved from Albany to New York City where he roomed with fellow painter,
Charles Warren Eaton. In New York City, Ochtman worked with a group of artists who were important in the development of the
impressionist movement in the
United States. Although he took classes at the
Art Students League of New York in 1879, he was primarily self-taught. For several years Ochtman's studio in New York City was located in the same building as that of
George Inness, the dean of the
Tonalism movement, and the two painters admired each other's work. In 1882 he began to exhibit landscapes at the
National Academy of Design. Other members of the colony included
John Henry Twachtman,
Childe Hassam,
Julian Alden Weir,
Elmer Livingston MacRae, and
Theodore Robinson. From Grayledge, the house that he built overlooking the
Mianus River, Ochtman instructed younger artists boarding at the nearby
Bush-Holley House. In 1910 and 1911, Ochtman held classes for the New York Summer School at Grayledge. Ochtman's students included
Clark Voorhees and
Harriet Randall Lumis. In 1912, Ochtman and his friend, the sculptor
Edward Clark Potter, formed the
Greenwich Society of Artists and the
Bruce Museum. Ochtman served as the first vice president of the society in 1912, and President of the society from 1916 to 1932, and as first art curator of the Bruce Museum. Ochtman's daughter,
Dorothy Ochtman (1892–1971), studied under her two artist parents and became an accomplished painter of still lifes. Leonard Ochtman died at his home in
Greenwich, Connecticut on October 27, 1934. ==References==