Born in New York City, Leon Kroll was an American painter and lithographer. He studied at the Art Students League of New York under John Henry Twachtman, and at the Académie Julian in Paris with Jean Paul Laurens. In 1913, Kroll showed work at the Armory Show and later taught at the Art Students League of New York and the school of the National Academy of Design, where he was named an Associate in 1920 and a full Academician in 1927. In 1930, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He was also named Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1950. Kroll died at Gloucester, Massachusetts.