Known for:  land-and seascape paintings, Berlin Impressionism. Leistikow was one of the principal trailblazers and forerunners of modern art in Germany.  Having been sacked from the conservative Prussian Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin for 'lack of talent', and having his and his friend Edvard Munchs' paintings refused for exhibition at their annual Salon, Leistikow set out to create his own exhibition and commercial space for showcasing contemporary art, with great success. 
Throughout his career, Leistikow focused on landscape painting, his main subjects being his native countryside, the lakes and forests of the Grunewald and Mark Brandenburg, and the coastlines of Sylt and Rügen.  His stylized landscapes were a mix of naturalism and abstraction, Impressionism and expressive color eccentricities. 
He mostly tried to capture the mood of the landscape through the play of light and shadow, exploring the effects of sunny contrasts and dusky sunsets on the landscape.  Leistikow had been a student of the Norwegian painter Hans Gude, who himself often worked along the shores of Rügen and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and had traveled to Paris and Scandinavia to encounter different currents of contemporary art for inspiration and enrichment of his own work. 

His paintings sell for up to $50,000.   Etchings sell for up to $2000 at auction.