Leitner was a landscape painter, on the one hand following the tradition of Austrian Atmospheric Painting while on the other also incorporating the tendencies of a natural symbolism based on atmospheric moods.
Studied at the Vienna Academy under Franz Rumpler from 1893. In 1905 and 1906, he traveled to Italy (Rome Prize) and to Dalmatia. In 1908, a became a member of the Vienna Künstlerhaus, where he regularly exhibited his works. During the First World War, he worked as a war painter in the Ortler region in 1916, in Eastern Galicia in 1917 and in Capodistria and its surroundings in 1918.
In 1924, his works were shown in a collective exhibition at the Holbein Gallery in Vienna. From around 1911, Waidhofen on the Thaya became his adopted home - he was made an honorary citizen. Emperor Franz Josef bought his paintings “Danube Landscape in the Wachau Region” and “Castle Keep”. Emperor Karl also bought one of his paintings.
Works at:
Belvedere, Vienna
Niederösterreichisches Landesmuseum [Lower Austria Regional Museum], St. Pölten
