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Painter,
printmaker and sculptor, Leon Bibel was born in Poland in 1913 and moved
with his family to San Francisco as a child. He trained at the California
School of Fine Arts, receiving a scholarship to study under the German
Impressionist Maria Riedelstein. Later, he worked in collaboration with
Bernard Zackheim, a student of Diego Rivera, to create frescoes for the
San Francisco Jewish Community Center and the University of California
Medical School.In
1936 Bibel moved from California to join the WPA Federal Art Project in
New York City. He taught at P.S. 94 and Bronx House, and later joined
the Easel Project and the Graphic Art Project at the Harlem Art Center.
It was a period of
inspiring camaraderie and great productivity for the artist.When
Bibel's program in the WPA ended in 1941, he moved with his wife to South
Brunswick, New Jersey. Bibel ceased his artistic endeavors and, in order
to support his family, worked as a chicken farmer during the following
twenty years. Finally resuming his artistic pursuits in the early 1960s,
he continued his artistic pursuits in painting and sculpture until his
death in 1995.
Bibel's graphic work
is distinguished by its boldly conceived, dramatic composition and its
passionately executed, expressionist rendering. His WPA work is imbued
with a deep sense of humanity and often addresses issues of social justice
and the plight of the working man. Much of his WWII imagery focuses on
the destructiveness of war and the resultant alienation of man.
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Bibel's
numerous exhibitions include: Newark Museum (1966, one-man); Jersey City
Museum (1967); Hunterdon County Art Center, Clinton, NJ (1978); Monmouth
College Art Festival (1978); Rutgers State University (1978); New Jersey
State Museum (1978, one-man); Rider College, Lawrenceville, NJ (1983,
one-man); Hillel Foundation of Rutgers (1985-86, one-man); Trenton State
College (1985); Noyes Museum (1986); National Academy of Design (1987);
Rutgers Labor Education Center (1988, one-man); Ellarslie Museum, Trenton,
NJ (1990); Mercer County Community College, Trenton, NJ (1990); South
Brunswick Public Library (1990-91, one-man); Hillel Foundation of Rutgers
(1991); Trenton City Museum (1991); Noyes Museum (1991); Klutznick Museum,
Washington, DC (1992); Joseph Gallery, Hebrew Union College (1992, one-man);
National Jewish Museum (1992); and Hunterdon Art Center (1993, one-man).
Bibel's work is included
in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine
Arts in Boston, the Newark Museum, the Zimmerli Art Museum of Rutgers,
the Amon Carter Museum, the Dade County Museum, the Klutznick Museum,
the Art Collection of the Federal Reserve Board, Rutgers State University,
Rider College, Ohio University, George University, and the New Brunswick
State Theater, as well as many corporate and private collections.
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