Mel Leipzig
American painter (1935–2025)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Melvin Donald Leipzig (May 23, 1935 – October 31, 2025) was an American visual artist and arts educator, known for his realist portraits in acrylic paint.[1][2] He lived in Trenton, New Jersey, and exhibited his work both nationally and internationally.[3][4][5]
May 23, 1935
Mel Leipzig | |
|---|---|
| Born | Melvin Donald Leipzig May 23, 1935 Brooklyn, New York City, U.S. |
| Died | October 31, 2025 Princeton, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Education | Cooper Union, Yale University (BFA), Pratt Institute (MFA) |
| Occupations | Visual artist, arts educator |
| Known for | Painter, printmaker, portraitist |
| Children | 2 |
| Website | www |
Life and career
Mel Leipzig was born on May 23, 1935, in Brooklyn, New York City.[3][4][6] He attended Cooper Union, and received a BFA degree at Yale University, and a MFA degree at Pratt Institute.[7]
From 1968 until 2013, Leipzig taught art courses at Mercer County Community College.[4] Starting in 1990 Leipzig painted with a limited palette, in four colors: dark blue, dark red, yellow and white.[2] He was profiled on the television series State of the Arts on NJ PBS, in an episode titled "Mel Leipzig: Everything is Paintable" (2017).[8]
Leipzig’s artwork can be found in the collections of the New Jersey State Museum,[3] the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University,[9][10] the Yale University Art Gallery,[11] the Whitney Museum,[12] the National Academy Museum[13] and the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.[4]
Leipzig was a longtime resident of Trenton, New Jersey. He died in Princeton, New Jersey, in 2025 at the age of 90.[14] The date of his death was reported variously as October 31[3] or November 1.[4][6][14]