Leepa remembered as always being true to the beat generation
BY MARK SCHANTZ
THE SUNCOAST NEWS
Published: July 10, 2009
TARPON SPRINGS - Allen Leepa was a beatnik from the 1950s who always
remained true to his creed and convictions, says Lynn Whitelaw,
director of the Leepa-Rattner Museum on the Tarpon Springs Campus of
St. Petersburg College.
Leepa, an art educator, artist and half the museum's namesake duo,
died at his home in New Port Richey last week at the age of 90 after
a long illness.
Leepa loved art and was concerned about the human condition, Whitelaw
said. His Abstract Expressionist artwork revealed the emotion of his thought.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Leepa lived in California, trained at The Art
Students League in New York and New Bauhas School of Design in
Chicago. He received advanced degrees from Columbia University.
After moving to this area in 1997 from Michigan, where he was an art
professor at Michigan State University for many years, Leepa and wife
Isabelle donated $20 million worth of art to what was then St.
Petersburg Junior College.
The Leepas also gave $2.5 million to build the Leepa-Rattner Museum.
Construction of the museum began in 1999 and was completed in 2002.
Abraham Rattner, a renowned expressionist painter, was Allen Leepa's
stepfather. Leepa donated to the museum works by Rattner and
Rattner's second wife, sculptor, painter and printmaker Esther Gentle
Rattner, 1899 - 1991, who was Leepa's mother. Leepa also gave the
museum works by artists such as Picasso and Chagall.
Isabelle Leepa died in 2006, at age 78.
Whitelaw said his friend Allen Leepa used vivid colors and shapes to
bring emotion to the canvass. In his textbook, "The Challenge of
Modern Art," written in 1945 and revised in 1995, Leepa said every
shade, color, line and shape should evoke a feeling in a painting.
The museum will present a tribute exhibit, "Allen, Leepa: In
Memoriam," Aug. 2 - 30.
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Mark Schantz can be reached at 727-815-1075 or mschantz@suncoastnews.com.
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Allen Leepa, artist and benefactor, dead at 90
http://suncoastpinellas.tbo.com/content/2009/jun/29/allen-leepa-artist-and-benefactor-dead-90/
June 29, 2009
Allen Leepa, an abstract expressionist artist, author and college
professor, died Friday. He was 90.
Leepa, who called Tarpon Springs his home after retiring as a
Michigan State University art professor, was a champion for the arts.
In 1997, he and his wife, Isabelle, donated an expansive art
collection to St. Petersburg College.
The collection, valued at more than $20 million, includes thousands
of Leepa's works, along with those of his mother, Esther Gentle
Rattner, and stepfather, Abraham Rattner, as well as works by
Picasso, Chagall and others, college administrators say.
The Leepas also donated $2.5 million to the college for the
58,000-square-foot Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art complex, which opened
in 2002 on the Tarpon Springs campus.
Isabelle Leepa died in 2006 at age 78.
In a statement today, college President Carl M. Kuttler Jr. said the
"gift of such magnificent works by Allen and Isabelle Leepa has
become one of St. Petersburg College's most valuable assets. It also
has added greatly to the cultural value of West Central Florida."
Leepa was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and spent his early years in
California before returning to New York for high school.
He trained at The Art Students League in New York City and the New
Bauhaus school of design in Chicago, and received undergraduate and
graduate degrees from Columbia University.
Leepa exhibited his works around the United States and abroad. He
published two books, including "Rattner," a biography of his stepfather.
The museum will present the exhibition "Allen Leepa: In Memoriam,"
opening Aug. 2 with a tribute to Leepa's life at 3 p.m. The
exhibition runs through Aug. 30.
Funeral services are pending. In lieu of flowers, donations can be
sent to the Allen Leepa Memorial Fund at the museum.
.
1 comments:
Leepa has some pretty creative art and I can't wait to visit his memoriam.
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