Robert Lepper (1906–1991) was an American artist and art professor at

Carnegie Institute of Technology Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

, now

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

, who developed the country's first

industrial design Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical Product (business), products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in adva ...

degree program. Lepper's work in industrial design, his fascination with the impact of technology on society and its potential role for artmaking formed the background for his class "Individual and Social Analysis", a two semester class focusing on community and personal memory as factors in artistic expression, which with his theoretical dialogues with his most promising students outside the classroom fostered the intellectual environment from which such diverse artists as Andy Warhol, Philip Pearlstein, Mel Bochner, and Jonathan Borofsky would later build their art practices.

Early life and education

Robert Lepper was born September 10, 1906, in

Aspinwall, Pennsylvania Aspinwall is a borough on the Allegheny River in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The population was 2,916 at the 2020 census. History In the mid-1880s, the area which is now Aspinw ...

.Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File. Social Security Administration. His parents were Elizabeth L. and Charles W. Lepper, a purchasing agent for a gas company. Charles' parents were both born in Germany. Robert had an older brother, Charles.Aspinwall, Allegheny, Pennsylvania; Roll: 1959; Page: 18B; Enumeration District: 0490; Image: 832.0; FHL microfilm: 2341693. United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. He attended

(CIT), graduating in 1927. From graduation until 1928, he went to Europe and explored contemporary art.Robert Lepper biography.
IDSA. Retrieved January 17, 2014. He then was an artist for the ''

Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph The ''Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph'' was an evening daily newspaper published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1927 to 1960. Part of the Hearst newspaper chain, it competed with '' The Pittsburgh Press'' and the ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'' until be ...

''Robert L. Lepper Papers.
Carnegie Mellon University Archives, Staff and Faculty Papers. Retrieved January 17, 2014. and lived with his parents.

Career

Carnegie Institute of Technology

Lepper taught art from beginning in 1930 and helped to establish one of the country's first industrial design degree program at

in 1934. He defined visual perception elements: area, line, space, volume, color, value and texture - and then the equivalents in industrial design, published in the 1938 "The Elements of Visual Perception, linking art elements to manufacturing processes" article. He taught a class entitled "Individual and Social Analysis," in which he encouraged students to look at ordinary items from their daily lives as potential works of art. One of his students was

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

, then Andrew Warhola, who drew upon his meals at home and made ''

Campbell's Soup Cans ''Campbell's Soup Cans'' (sometimes referred to as ''32 Campbell's Soup Cans'') is a Visual arts, work of art produced between November 1961 and June 1962 by the American artist Andy Warhol. It consists of thirty-two canvases, each measuri ...

.'' Other notable students include Warhol's friend

Philip Pearlstein Philip Martin Pearlstein (May 24, 1924 – December 17, 2022) was an American painter best known for Modernist Realist nudes. Cited by critics as the preeminent figure painter of the 1960s to 2000s, he led a revival in realist art. Biography ...

, illustrator Leonard Kessler, editorial cartoonist Jimmy Margulies, conceptual artist

Mel Bochner Melvin Simon Bochner (August 23, 1940 – February 12, 2025) was an American conceptual artist. He is considered to be one of the founders of Conceptual Art,Haus der Kunst (March 7, 2013 - June 23, 2013) Mel Bochner: If the Color Changes./ref ...

"Newsbriefs: Lepper show runs at Warhol."
Carnegie Mellon Magazine. Winter 2002. Retrieved January 17, 2014. and

Joyce Kozloff Joyce Kozloff (born December 14, 1942) is an American artist known for her paintings, murals, and public art installations. She was one of the original members of the Pattern and Decoration movement and an early artist in the 1970s feminist art mo ...

, who developed an interest in public art when working on Lepper's Oakland Project in which students went out into the Oakland neighborhood and made paintings or drawings of the infrastructure, buildings and people. The project was written about in Richard Rappaport's 1989 paper ''Robert Lepper, Carnegie Tech, and the Oakland Project.'' The Oakland Project was the first semester of the Individual and Social Analysis course he started in 1947; The Retrospective was the second semester class for the program. One of his students, Mark Mentzer, is currently a professor at the CMU School of Design. He is one of the oldest professors currently teaching at Carnegie Mellon.

Artist

Lepper created sculptures and murals, many of which reflect his interest in industrial objects. He developed the combination of powdered pigments and acrylic resin, or plastic, for artwork. In 1932, he made ''Crankshaft.'' He made several murals under the

Federal Arts Project The Federal Art Project (1935–1943) was a New Deal program to fund the visual arts in the United States. Under national director Holger Cahill, it was one of five Federal Project Number One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administrati ...

(1935–1943) of the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...

, including post offices in

Grayling, Michigan Grayling ( ') is a city and the county seat of Crawford County, Michigan, Crawford County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the only incorporated community in Crawford County. The population was 1,884 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 cens ...

, and

Caldwell, Ohio Caldwell is a village in and the county seat of Noble County, Ohio, United States. It is located along the West Fork of Duck Creek about north of Marietta. The population was 1,691 at the 2020 census. History Caldwell was founded in 1857, ...

. He made the "highly acclaimed" mural of area industries for the Mining Industries Building (also known as the new Mineral Industries Building) at

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

between 1940 and 1942. The main entrance of the Graduate School of Industrial Administration (GSIA) at

has a sandblasted, bas-relief industrial mural made by Lepper in 1952. Robert Lepper made a number of public works: sculpture for the

1964 New York World's Fair The 1964 New York World's Fair (also known as the 1964–1965 New York World's Fair) was an world's fair, international exposition at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, United States. The fair included exhibitions, activ ...

. In the latter part of the 1960s he worked on his Transit Vehicle Design project to create more comfortable, angled passenger seats.

Awards

* 1961 - Craftsmanship Award, Pennsylvania Society of Architects of the American Institute of Architects * 1975 - Respect and Admiration Award, Carnegie Mellon University * 1989 -

Industrial Designers Society of America The Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) is a membership-based not-for-profit organization that promotes the practice and education of industrial design. The organization was formally established in 1965 by the collaborative merger of t ...

's (IDSA) Education Award, in recognition of his "significant and distinguished contributions" in industrial design education.

Personal life

Lepper married Helen Jewett of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

on September 6, 1933, in

Damariscotta, Maine Damariscotta (/ dæmrɪˈskɒtə/ ) is a town in Lincoln County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,297 at the 2020 census. Damariscotta is the oyster capital of New England. A popular tourist destination, the towns of Damariscotta and ...

, where she was born. They lived in Pittsburgh and had a daughter, Susan, born about 1935. He died February 7, 1991, when he was living in Pittsburgh.

Posthumous recognition

In 2002,

The Andy Warhol Museum The Andy Warhol Museum is located on the North Shore (Pittsburgh), North Shore of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is the largest museum in North America dedicated to a single artist. The museum holds an extensive permanent co ...

held the "Robert Lepper, Artist & Teacher" exhibit, which exhibited works from Lepper's estate and Carnegie Mellon. Some were shown for the first time. ''River Creature'' is a model of a 60-foot-tall, fire-breathing dragon proposed work of art, to "humorously" reflect Pittsburgh's industrial history. Carnegie established the Robert Lepper Distinguished Lecture series in his honor. In 1994, Norbert Nathanson and Dale Stein, both former students of Lepper, produced a video documentary ''An Affectionate Memoir, Robert L. Lepper.'' The documentary was narrated by Lepper's daughter, Susan Lepper, and may be found in the Lepper Archives, Hunt Library of

, Pittsburgh, PA.''An Affectionate Memoir, Robert L. Lepper.''
Worldcat.org. Retrieved March 28, 2014.

References

External links

West Virginia & Regional History Center The West Virginia & Regional History Center (WVRHC), is the largest archival collection housing documents and manuscripts involving West Virginia and the surrounding central Appalachian region. Because of name changes over the years, it is someti ...

Robert Lepper, Artist, Program, Lecture Notes, and Photographs of Mural