Trenton Celebrates Nonagenarian Realist Painter Mel Leipzig with Landmark Exhibit
TRENTON, NJ – A major retrospective honoring celebrated realist painter Mel Leipzig opened this week at the Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie, kicking off a year-long festivity of the artist’s 90th birthday. The exhibit, curated by Ellarslie past president Ann Perkes, showcases Leipzig’s decades-long career and his profound impact on the local art community and beyond.
Leipzig, known for painting directly from life using a limited palette of just four colors, has recently completed a diptych portrait of a former student and his wife, noting a particular fondness for the colour yellow. He now resides in assisted living, preferring to spend his nights in his on-site studio amongst his work rather than in his bedroom.
The exhibition features 24 paintings by Leipzig’s former students alongside his own work, spanning from 1967 to the present day. Thes students, including muralists and graffiti artists like Leon Rainbow, have gone on to achieve recognition in the art world.
“Everyone has been a student of Mel’s,” said former Mercer County Community Collage (MCCC) gallery director, Susan Fagan, who helped Leipzig select the student works for the show. “He is one of the rare professors that drew energy from teaching. It mattered to him, and that’s what he got across to you from the very start.”
Leipzig, a Brooklyn native and yale University alumnus who studied with Josef Albers, considers himself part of the “realist revival.” He recalled a time when realism was considered outdated in the art world,a sentiment he countered with conviction.”Every time an art form goes into decline, a good dose of realism cures it and brings it back to life,” he quoted critic Eric Bentley as saying.
Perkes highlighted Leipzig’s dedication to his craft and his unique connection to Trenton. “He took a capital city and turned it into a small town based on how he painted and how many people he knew,” she said. “He had this ability to paint and believe against the trend.”
Leipzig’s subjects have evolved over time, beginning with family, friends, and students, and expanding to include prominent figures like architects michael Graves, Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora, and former Sen. Rush Holt.
the exhibit at Ellarslie includes previously unseen paintings, with the earliest dating back to 1967. Details on celebratory events surrounding leipzig’s 90th year can be found at ellarslie.org/mel-at-90.
