Early Life and Artistic Training Leon Pole was born on 28 June 1871 in Adelaide, South Australia. His early years in the colony provided the foundation for a life spent observing the light and landscape of the Australian continent. As a young man, he moved to Melbourne, a city that would become the center of his professional development and creative focus. Between 1888 and 1892, Leon Pole spent his formative years as a student at the National Gallery of Victoria Art School. It was during this period in Melbourne that he studied under Frederick McCubbin. This training provided him with the t…