Leander Russ was an Austrian painter .

Leander Russ was born in the Vienna suburb of Mariahilf No. 21 (today Amerlingstrasse 10) as the son of the painter Karl Russ . His older sister was the painter Clementine Russ (1804–1869). After receiving his first lessons from his father, Russ studied at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts from 1823 to 1828 under Karl Gsellhofer and Josef Redl the Elder.
In 1828 he received the Gundel Prize and from that year took part in the Academy's annual exhibitions at irregular intervals. In 1833 he accompanied the orientalist Anton Graf Prokesch-Osten on a trip to the Orient, which strongly influenced his further artistic development. In 1848 Russ became a member of the Vienna Academy.