MENTOR, TEACHER, CATALYST: This self-portrait by Trenton painter Mel Leipzig is among those to be displayed at a celebration of his 90th birthday starting at Ellarslie on October 24. Additional events to be held through February are at Cadwalader Park, Trenton City Hall, the Trenton Free Library Gallery, and Mercer County Community College.

By Anne Levin

Since moving to Trenton from New York some 57 years ago, realist painter Mel Leipzig has earned the respect and devotion of fellow artists, scores of students, and the subjects — well known and otherwise — portrayed in his realist works.

It is safe to say that Leipzig, who marked his 90th birthday on May 23, is a local icon. To celebrate him, a series of events are planned starting on October 24 with “Mel at 90: The Revival of Realism” at Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie. The show, which features works by Leipzig and fellow realists including Lois Dodd, Alan Bennett, Linda Pochesi, and Laura Tryon Jennings, among others, runs through January 4.

“Mel is actually an art historical figure,” said Joan Perkes, who is curating the show. “Very few artists get to put a toe on the rung of the ladder, and Mel has ascended it completely.”

Several partner events are planned. “Painting in the Park” on October 26 is for anyone who wants to paint with Leipzig in Cadwalader Park. “Paintings and Politicians,” curated by Dan Aubrey, is on view at Trenton City Hall from November 3-26. Architects John Clarke and John Hatch are the curators of “The Architects: Mel Leipzig Paintings of Famous Architects” at Trenton’s Lobby Club, opening November 7.

Then there is “Tattoo and Street Artists: Mel Leipzig Portraits,” curated by Liz Aubrey at the Trenton Free Library Gallery December 11 through March 21, with an artist’s talk scheduled for February 21. Finally, “Generation Mel,” an invitational exhibition featuring works by some 24 artists — his former students at Mercer County Community College (MCCC) — curated by Tricia Fagan and Janis Purcell, is on view at the college’s West Windsor campus January 12 to February 27.

“I loved my students. I’m looking at a painting right now that I just finished of one of my former students. It’s part of a diptych of him and his wife,” Leipzig said in a phone interview last week. “It’s yellow. Yellow has become my color of choice. I just love it.”

Urged on by his children, Leipzig recently moved to assisted living, where he has a bedroom and a studio. He confesses to spending most nights on a sofa in the studio, close to his paintings, rather than in his bedroom.

Known for always painting directly from life, Leipzig works with a limited palette of four colors. Members of his family, his friends, and his students were his original subjects. He broadened his reach to include fellow artists, architects like Michael Graves, politicians like Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora and former Sen. Rush Holt, among others, both in Mercer County and on Cape Cod.

Leipzig grew up in Brooklyn and studied with artist Josef Albers at Yale University.

“I’m part of the realist revival,” he said. “In the ’50s when I started doing really good paintings, you were considered dated if you were a realist. The irony of that, of course, is that those students who followed abstract expressionist ideas and flung paint all over the place — as soon as they were out of school, it was out of date. The critic Eric Bentley once said, ‘Every time an art form goes into decline, a good dose of realism cures it and brings it back to life.’ I like that.”

Though she knew of Leipzig, Perkes didn’t meet him until she curated a show at Ellarslie, where she is past president of the board, in 2013. She felt an immediate connection.

“Here was somebody who was in New York and came to Trenton,” she said. “He had this ability to paint and believe against the trend. Everybody pooh-poohed the revival of realism, but he had the courage to follow his vision. His paintings are remarkable. He is so far beyond being a figure in the community.”

Known for his natural warmth, Leipzig is beloved by his former students and proud of the many who have made names for themselves in the art world. He chose the 24 who are to be represented in the MCCC show.

“Everyone has been a student of Mel’s,” said Fagan, who got to know the artist when she ran the gallery at MCCC from 1999 to 2013. “The earliest in the show is from 1974; later ones include Leon Rainbow and others known for murals and graffiti. He is one of the rare professors that drew energy from teaching. It mattered to him, and that’s what he got across to you from the very start.”

Perkes made sure to include some paintings by Leipzig in the Ellarslie show that haven’t been seen before. The earliest is from 1967.

“Mel took a capital city and turned it into a small town based on how he painted and how many people he knew,” she said. “I felt this was a golden moment for the museum, for Mel, and for the city of Trenton. I called people and said I had this idea. We put a team together and here we are. Needless to say, we are very excited to honor him.”

For details on the celebratory events, visit ellarslie.org/mel-at-90.