October 4, 1999
Montclair State is honoring the memory of 30-year Fine Arts professor Leon DeLeeuw with an exhibition of his paintings in the University Gallery and Gallery One.
"He was a very prolific artist dedicated to painting as well as teaching," said Lorenzo Pace, director of the Art Galleries. "I really admire his work and his commitment." Born in Paris, De Leeuw came to the United States in 1939. He earned a bachelor's degree in fine arts and master's degree in creative arts from New York University. He passed away in 1997, but his art, which is characterized as abstract expressionism, continues to be exhibited in various galleries in New York, New Jersey and Denmark.
Carlos Ortiz of Humanities and Social Science, a friend and student of De Leeuw, is curator of the exhibit. "I took my first class with Leon back in 1977 when I was a young painter," Ortiz said at last week's reception. "Leon took me under his wing immediately." Ortiz described De Leeuw as a simple, honest man who was always straightforward and perceptive of others.
Energetic, powerful and abstract are words often used to describe De Leeuw's paintings. His work has been displayed throughout campus for nearly four decades, and, according to Pace, no other artist has more paintings on campus. Nearly 40 works by De Leeuw are hanging in campus offices and halls.
"His presence is so pronounced on this campus that I still think he's around," Ortiz said. "As I was putting together the show, I was taken by all of the work Leon produced. If he wasn't painting on canvas he was painting on paper or he was drawing or writing. He was always doing something that would leave a mark of his identity, a mark of his existence, a mark of his compassion and his love."
De Leeuw's exhibit will be up through Oct. 8.