Malcolm T. Liepke (b. 1953) is an American painter, who originates from Minneapolis, Minnesota. The artist is influenced by the works of John Sargent, Edgar Degas, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

. Possibly, Liepke’s love for impressionists resulted in his distinctive approach. He applies the wet-on-wet or alla prima painting technique, meaning that layers of wet paint cover the previous layers of wet paint. Thick brushstrokes may also remind you of the impressionist manner.

Fig. 1. Cascading Hair (conchigliadivenere.files.wordpress.com)

Fig. 2. In the Bath

, 2017 (twitter.com)

Fig. 3. In Her Bed (conchigliadivenere.files.wordpress.com)

Fig. 4. Kissing Her Back, 2019 (arcadiacontemporary.com)

Fig. 5. Retro (conchigliadivenere.files.wordpress.com)

Fig. 6. conchigliadivenere.files.wordpress.com

Fig. 7. Legs Together, 2019 (twitter.com)

Fig. 8. conchigliadivenere.files.wordpress.com

Only Thing I Was Cut Out To Be

Already in high school, Liepke felt the aspiration to become an artist. As he later would say, “being an artist was the only thing I was cut out to be” (arcadiacontemporary.com). Graduated, he moved to California and enrolled in the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. Studying at the institution was a frustrating experience. Liepke, who tended towards figurative art, was forced to learn abstractionism and conceptualism. He studied for only a year and a half and dropped out.

Dissatisfied

After Liepke was expelled, he moved to New York, where he worked as a commercial illustrator for Time, Forbes, and Newsweek. As time went on, Liepke was getting more dissatisfied with his career and eventually decided to devote himself to art. In the 1980s, he began to study art on his own visiting local museums and developing his manner. Nowadays, the works of Liepke are held in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution and the Brooklyn Museum. He has been widely exhibiting in America and selling his paintings since the first show at Eleanor Ettinger Gallery in 1986. At the moment, the artist works and resides in his hometown.

Fig. 9. onchigliadivenere.files.wordpress.com

Fig. 10. Revealed (onchigliadivenere.files.wordpress.com)

Fig. 11. Curled with Pillow (onchigliadivenere.files.wordpress.com)

Fig. 12. Curled Up (onchigliadivenere.files.wordpress.com)

Fig. 13. onchigliadivenere.files.wordpress.com

Fig. 14. onchigliadivenere.files.wordpress.com

Fig. 15. Eternal (onchigliadivenere.files.wordpress.com)

Fig. 16. Lost in Rapture, 1995 (arcadiacontemporary.com)

Contra Avant-Garde

As known, it’s a frequent situation when young artists rebel against the academist approach and do provocative things that later become an art. The case of Liepke is the opposite example, though, not as much opposite, because he also protested against the institution, after all. As the artist says, “I wanted to learn from the masters that I saw in the museums.”