Noel Harry Leaver was born in Austwick, Yorkshire in 1889, but is better known as a Burnley artist, the town in which he lived and worked for most of his life. He is most famous as the painter of distinctive North African views or 'Easterns', although his work includes a much wider range of landscapes, town views, interiors and even still life.

His earlier paintings are softer and looser than his later more accomplished works, but still show his fine understanding of detail and construction. He was particularly known for his treatment of skies.

He was one of the youngest ever pupils of the Royal College of Art*, where he began studies at age sixteen. At the RCA he followed the classic training route doing modules in Arch...