LEON BIBEL was an extraordinary and compelling artist who was part of the New York City W.P.A. Federal Art Project in the 1930's. His work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, among others. He was truly passionate about labor and union issues and concerned with justice as it impacted on the very poor in the Depression.

After 15 years of working with Leon and then with his family, we are beginning to give some attention to his later body of work. He was remarkably prolific and intensely active well past the end of the WPA projects.

His large scale paintings from the 60's and sculptures from the 70's and 80's reveal the extremely broad range of his immense talent as he explored new forms, subjects and media. He never stopped being challenged and literally died in his studio one morning while working. It was incredibly sad for those of us who knew and loved him, but he wouldn't have wanted it to be any other way. His devotion to creating art was profound and he had a great deal to say. From recently discovered vintage political cartoons to iconic paintings, with many twists and turns along the way, Leon gave his all to his life as an artist.

Leon's work was recently included in "Facing Fascism: New York and the Spanish Civil War", a comprehensive landmark exhibition at The Museum of the City of New York in 2007.

The story of how New Yorkers responded to the crisis in Spain was told through art, artifacts, video presentations and original documents and dramatized the intense feelings to the news from abroad.
The exhibition is now headed to Spain, where it will begin in November of 2007.

Extensive documentation of his credits and artistic history is available at the gallery.