[Detail] Mr. Leipzig in 2010 in his home studio with his painting “Francesca at the Door,” depicting his younger self and his daughter. Credit… Susan Smith & Gallery Henoch. [New York Times caption and illustration]
The acrylic canvases of Mel Leipzig, a painter christened by Peter Schjeldahl as the “Chekhov of Trenton,” reach me as analogs to the loudest arena-rock virtuoso guitar hero solos you can think of. They are an ostentation of look-what-I-can-do. They blow your skirt up over your head if you’re wearing one. That’s a mixed bag and stirs up the cliché phrased as embarrassment of riches.
“Creativity is very life-giving. Van Gogh would have shot himself a lot earlier had he not been an artist.”
(Mel Leipzig)
Yes, and Van Gogh arrived at a luminously generalized mode of depiction, as well, which may have helped him cope for longer.
May Mr. Leipzig rest in peace. He was clearly a master of his métiér. These are general thoughts about his art not meant disrespectfully. Is it fair to think of the style of painting he consummately unleashed as more re-creation than creation? Is that a distinction without a difference? (I love that phrase.)
I’ve done something underhanded, and put here only detail from his paintings. See them in full in the article, it’s worth a visit. Leipzig had a long, productive life (dead at 90), and said some really interesting things.
[Detail] Mr. Leipzig was so devoted to verisimilitude that his favorite work was a 1991 acrylic on canvas view of his son, Joshua, sitting insouciantly in a bedroom festooned with graffiti and dirty laundry while three musician friends sprawl on the floor. Credit… via Gallery Henoch [New York Times caption and illustration]
[He said] his art had to feature a person, “no matter what the painting is about… The main thing that interests me is not just the figure… It’s the way the figure related to the background… It’s mainly the composition of the painting that really excites me, but I must have a person. It’s an essential part of my being.”
[Detail] Mr. Leipzig’s 1996 painting “Joshua’s Tattoos,” a portrait of his son. His work contained what an art critic called “an almost hallucinogenic intensity of detail.” Credit… via Leipzig Family. [New York Times caption and illustration]
(c) 2025 JMN — EthicalDative. All rights reserved
EthicalDative 
What an interesting artist – another one I hadn’t been aware of, so thank you Jim.
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Cheers, Sue!
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