Daily Loaf

Allen Leepa (American, b. 1919). Homage to Tarpon Springs, 1998. Acrylic on canvas, 5 x 12 feet (2 panels). Courtesy Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art.

Earlier this week, Allen Leepa– abstract painter and founder of the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art at St. Petersburg College– died at age 90. In celebration of his legacy, the museum will showcase his art in an exhibition scheduled to open on Aug. 2, Allen Leepa: In Memoriam.

In 1997, Leepa and his wife Isabelle donated $2.5 million to St. Petersburg College (then St. Petersburg Junior College) along with an extensive collection of works by Leepa, Esther Gentle Rattner (his mother) and Abraham Rattner (his stepfather). The collection, which is valued at upwards of $20 million, also includes works by Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Georges Rouault and Hans Hofmann.

Rattner (Leepa’s stepfather and the museum’s co-namesake) was an American painter who studied in Paris after the conclusion of World War I, observing and adopting cubist and expressionist styles to produce colorful abstract canvases. His later work, heavily influenced by the Holocaust, addresses themes related to Judaism and human conflict more directly. Rattner married Leepa’s mother, his second wife, in 1949.

A graduate of Columbia University twice over, Leepa taught art at Michigan State University for years before retiring to Tarpon Springs with his wife. Their gift to the college drew national media attention and enabled the construction of the 58,000-square foot complex– an award-winning design by Hoffman Architects of Tarpon Springs– that houses the museum, a fine arts education center and a library.

Megan Voeller is Creative Loafing’s visual art critic. She teaches at the University of Tampa and blogs at Artsqueeze.com.

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