In the bullfighting world Kate Leffler is considered an ‘aficionado práctica,’ but she never fought professionally. “I took up this art form so I could better paint it. To learn the fear, passion and all the nuances of it so my canvases could come alive.”
After retiring three years ago, Kate’s art is her communication – and like Ernest Hemingway’s book – Death in the Afternoon – Kate’s insights and determination echo her personal quest to understand the ancient art of bullfighting. Her brave renditions of the ring include works such as “Passion II,” where the viewer-as-matador is confronted with the gaze of a bull. Leffler’s impasto technique builds up layers of shading where (in Passion II) rich tones of red and orange to arouse feelings resonating from within her bulls.