Edward G. Leffingwell (December 3, 1941 – August 5, 2014), was an American art critic and curator, affiliated with MoMA/P.S.1 and '' Art in America''Roberta Smith
"Edward G. Leffingwell, Curator, Dies at 72"
(obituary), ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', Aug. 19, 2014. and associated with

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

art.Steve Chawkins
"Edward Leffingwell Dies at 72; Former Director of the L.A. Municipal Art Gallery"
(obituary), ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', Aug. 15, 2014.Elizabeth Fazzare
"Edward Leffingwell, 1941-2014"
(obituary), '' Art in America'', Aug. 13, 2014.

Biography

Leffingwell was born in

Sharon, Pennsylvania Sharon is a city in western Mercer County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city, located along the banks of the Shenango River on the state border with Ohio, is about northeast of Youngstown, about southeast of Cleveland and about northwe ...

, on December 3, 1941. In the mid-1960s he moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and began associating with

Max's Kansas City Max's Kansas City was a nightclub and restaurant at 213 Park Avenue South in New York City, which became a gathering spot for musicians, poets, artists, and politicians in the 1960s and 1970s. It was opened by Mickey Ruskin (1933–1983) in Dece ...

and the Warhol Factory crowd. During the 1960s and 1970s he was involved with a variety of avant-garde art projects, including a 1968 film by sculptor John Chamberlain ("

The Secret Life of Hernando Cortez ''The Secret Life of Hernando Cortez'' is a 1968 experimental film by John Chamberlain. It starred two of Andy Warhol's Factory actors, Ultra Violet and Taylor Mead. History John Chamberlain is primarily known as a sculptor, but starting in ...

"). In the late 1970s Leffingwell left New York to take care of his mother, who was ill, and began to transition to a

curatorial A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

career in the arts. He entered

Youngstown State University Youngstown State University (YSU or Youngstown State) is a public university in Youngstown, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1908 and is the easternmost member of the University System of Ohio. The university is composed of six undergrad ...

, completing a B.A. in 1982, and went on in 1984 to earn an M.A. in

art history Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

from the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

. In 1985 he was hired by PS1, now affiliated with New York's

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

. Leffingwell organized a number of key exhibitions, including two while he was in school. His first exhibition, in 1983, was at the Butler: "Chinese Chance: An American Collection", which profiled the collection of Leffingwell's long-time associate,

Mickey Ruskin Mickey is a given name and nickname, often a short form (hypocorism) of Michael, Michaela, and Michelle, and occasionally a surname. Notable people and characters with the name include: People Given name or nickname Men * Mickey Andrews (born ...

, who had been one of the owners of

. His next major exhibition was at the

, reviewing

Lawrence Weiner Lawrence Charles Weiner (February 10, 1942December 2, 2021) was an artist born and raised in New York City. One of the central figures in the formation of Conceptual Art in the 1960s, Lawrence Weiner explored the potentials of language as a scu ...

, a conceptual artist. Over the next several years Leffingwell organized several significant shows. In New York, he developed a 20-year retrospective of sculptor John McCracken ("John McCracken: Heroic Stance") and a 1987 show of artist Michael Tracy ("Michael Tracy: Terminal Privileges").Michael Brenson
"Art: Religious Works by Michael Tracy"
(review), ''The New York Times'', Nov. 6, 1987. In 1997 at P.S.1 he organized a retrospective of the work of artist and filmmaker Jack SmithAndrew Russeth
"Critic and Curator Edward Leffingwell Dies at 72"
(obituary), ''ARTnews'', Aug. 15, 2014. ("Jack Smith: Flaming Creature: His Amazing Life and Times"). He also organized a show on

James Rosenquist James Albert Rosenquist (November 29, 1933 – March 31, 2017) was an American artist and one of the proponents of the pop art movement. Drawing from his background working in sign painting, Rosenquist's pieces often explored the role of advert ...

, and "About Place: Contemporary American Landscape" (1986). Leffingwell spent four years in Los Angeles, directing the

Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery The Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery is located in the Barnsdall Art Park in Los Angeles, California. It focuses on the arts and artists of Southern California. The gallery was first established in 1954. Main building The Los Angeles Municipal ...

Barnsdall Park Barnsdall Art Park is a city park located in the East Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Parking and arts buildings access is from Hollywood Boulevard on the north side of the park. The park is a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural M ...

from 1988 to 1992. There he organized an exhibition of

George Herms George Herms (born 1935) is an American artist best known for creating assemblages out of discarded, often rusty, dirty or broken every-day objects, and juxtaposing those objects so as to infuse them with poetry, humor, and meaning. He is also k ...

, and a proposed biennial show, LAX: The Los Angeles Exhibition, a contemporary art exhibition spanning seven to eight institutions. During this time Leffingwell became interested in and associated with Brazilian art and the

São Paulo Art Biennial The São Paulo Art Biennial ( Portuguese: ''Bienal de São Paulo'') was founded in 1951 and has been held every two years since. It is the second oldest art biennial in the world after the Venice Biennale (in existence since 1895), which serves as ...

. For that biennial, he organized a show on the painter Neil Williams, one of long-time friends and associates. Leffingwell wrote prolifically, penning hundreds of reviews and critical essays for '' Art in America'', as well as contributing to scholarship on artist

, photographer

Joe Deal Joseph Maurice Deal (August 12, 1947 – June 18, 2010) was an American photographer who specialized in depicting how the landscape was transformed by people. Life and work Deal was born in Topeka, Kansas on August 12, 1947, and was raised in ...

, artist Judith Murray,

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, ; ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...

and Jack Smith. Leffingwell died from cardiac arrest in

Flushing, Queens Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial ...

, on August 5, 2014, at the age of 72, after suffering from Parkinson's disease.

Biography

* ''Lawrence Weiner: AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE (1960-2007)'' (2007) * ''From Vibrato to Legato: Judith Murray'' (2006) * ''Mario Cravo Neto: Laroye'' (2002) * ''Flaming Creature: The Life and Time of Jack Smith, Artist, Performer, Exotic Consultant'' (1997)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leffingwell, Edward G. American art critics American art curators 1941 births 2014 deaths People associated with the Museum of Modern Art (New York City) Youngstown State University alumni University of Cincinnati alumni People from Sharon, Pennsylvania