A painter of portraits, historical, religious, and genre scenes, Leon Pomarede lived and worked in St. Louis during the mid- to late nineteenth century. His historical painting And the Colored Troops Fought Nobly was exhibited at the National Academy of Design in 1867. The Missouri Historical Society owns his portrait of Dred Scott, the enslaved man who made history through his 1857 freedom suit before the United States Supreme Court.

Beginning in the 1860s, Pomarede also became known for his landscapes in watercolor and oil, depicting scenes throughout Missouri, southern Illinois, the American West, as well as Switzerland and the Tyrol region.