Leo von Littrow received her artistic training in Paris as a pupil of Jean dAlheim (1832 - 1894), where she was also influenced by French Impressionism. After her first successes as early as 1880 at exhibitions in Vienna, Bremen, Munich and London, Leontine von Littrow became around 1885 a successful painter of the sea, of Venice, of Italian and Dalmatian coastal landscapes, later of views of pergolas and of gardens.

In 1884 she was first noticed at the Kunstverein in Vienna for her "boldly thrown spatula paintings" depicting views of Venice. Because of the difficulty of being recognized in the field of art, dominated by men, Littrow signed his paintings with the abbreviation "Leo Littrow". She was thus perceived as a male "beach and marine painter" (quote from Boetticher). Since 1887, a decades-long friendship, fruitful for both artists, developed with fellow painter Olga Wisinger-Florian.

During stays with her in Istria and Dalmatia, Leontine von Littrow immortalized imposing views of cities and ports, picturesque bays and spontaneous studies of breaking waves. Since around 1900, the impressionist had a studio in Abbazzia in Istria on the Adriatic coast - a fashionable seaside resort of the nobility, European crowned heads and the big bourgeoisie. Her collectors included Ferdinand I, Prince of Bulgaria, Archduke Charles Stephan of Austria and Crown Princess Stephanie of Austria.

Born in Trieste, Léonie von Littrow studied in Paris with Jean d'Alheim as her teacher. Her father, a cartographer and naval officer, introduced her to the wild beauty of the seaside. A traveling painter, skilled at depicting both the northern coasts and the Mediterranean shores, the artist exhibited in Chicago in 1893, as well as at the Künstlerhaus in Vienna, the Glass Palace in Munich and the Kunstverein in Salzburg.