{{short description|American painter}} {{Infobox person | name =Leroy Allen | birth_date = {{birth date|1951|05|24|mf=yes}} | birth_place =Kansas City, Kansas | death_date = {{death date and age|2007|03|09|1951|05|24}} | death_place =Kansas City, Kansas | alma_mater= University of Kansas School of Fine Arts | occupation = artist | children =Daughters Jaime and LeTia | website = }}
'''Leroy Allen''' (1951-2007), was an American watercolorist and figurative artist. His realistic style focused on African American life and community, and won him more than 30 art awards nationally.<ref>{{cite news |title=Presenting the magnificent 7 Emerging artists of 2003 |work=Kansas City Star |date=4 May 2003 |page=20}}</ref>
==Biography== Allen was a Kansas City, Kansas native. He received his first art prize in the second grade when he won a National Scholastic Art Award for a crayon drawing of a horse show called “At the American Royal”.<ref>{{cite news |title=Presenting the magnificent 7 Emerging artists of 2003 |work=Kansas City Star |date=4 May 2003 |page=20}}</ref> During high school, Allen was hired by the Progressive Shopper News, a black-owned monthly newspaper, to draw a weekly cartoon column. The cartoon was about a character named Sly, an unsuccessful criminal, and was used to discourage young people from a life of crime. In high school, the comic series Allen created became a comic book.<ref>{{cite web |title=Leroy Allen |url=https://pffcollection.com/artists/leroy-allen/?sf_action=get_data&sf_data=results |website=Petrucci Family Foundation Collection of African American Art | date=3 September 2016 |accessdate=27 December 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Johnson, PhD |first1=Eloise |title=Leroy Allen "Sacred Center" |date=2004 |publisher=Stella Jones Gallery |page=2}}</ref>
Allen joined the Army and served in Vietnam and was honorably discharged in 1972.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Johnson, PhD |first1=Eloise |title=Leroy Allen "Sacred Center" |date=2004 |publisher=Stella Jones Gallery |page=2}}</ref>
Upon graduation from the University of Kansas School of Fine Art (BFA, 1977), Allen was hired by Hallmark Cards in 1980, where he became a technical supervisor.<ref>{{cite news |last1=MacCash |first1=Doug |title=Romantic Realists: Watercolorists demonstrate mastery of the medium |work=The Times Picayune |date=25 June 2004 |pages=18–19}}</ref> Over the years, Allen worked with and exhibited with noted Hallmark artists including Thomas Blackshear, Nancy Devard, Henry Dixon, Shane Evans, Cathy Ann Johnson, Jonathan Knight, and Dean Mitchell. He retired from Hallmark Cards after 24 years.<ref>{{cite news |title=Presenting the magnificent 7 Emerging artists of 2003 |work=Kansas City Star |date=4 May 2003 |page=20}}</ref>
Of Allen's artistic skill, New Orleans art critic Doug MacCash wrote: "Although many people think of watercolor as the genteel choice of Sunday painters, it may actually be the most difficult artistic technique to master. A great watercolorist is able to create a painting with such economy and deftness that the hand of the artist is almost unnoticeable - a feat akin to walking across a snowy field without leaving footprints. Both (Leroy) Allen and (Dean) Mitchell can do just that."<ref>{{cite news |last1=MacCash |first1=Doug |title=Romantic Realists: Watercolorists demonstrate mastery of the medium |work=The Times Picayune |date=25 June 2004 |pages=18–19}}</ref>
==Exhibitions== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year ! Exhibit ! class="unsortable" | Venue ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 1990|| ''Reflections '90'' || Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Center, Kansas City, MO || Juried exhibition. Allen's oil painting “Big Wind” features a jazz bassist. Other artists included Richard McGill, Dean Mitchell, and Joseph L. Smith.<ref>{{cite news |title=Reflections '90 |work=Kansas City Star |date=9 September 1990 |page=150}}</ref> |- | 1992|| ''Gallery '92'' || Kaw Valley Arts and Humanities, Kansas City, MO|| Virginia Mecklenburg, curator, National Museum of American Art, juror. Allen won one award for the character study, “Ma'am”.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Thorson |first1=Alice |title=Faculty exhibit shows astonishingly little vision |work=Kansas City Star |date=26 Jan 1992 |page=H4}}</ref> |- | 1999|| ''The Kansas City Six: A Reunion'' || Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Center, Kansas City, MO || Exhibit featured art by Leroy Allen, Thomas Blackshear II, Henry Dixon, Jonathan Knight, Dean Mitchell, Ezra Tucker.<ref>{{cite news |title=Openings |work=Kansas City Star |date=12 Feb 1999 |page=I5}}</ref> |- | 2000|| ''Black Creativity'' || Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, IL|| Allen also was included in the Black Creativity exhibits of 1996, 1997, and 1998.<ref>{{cite web |title=Peggy Eldridge-Love: A Tribute to Leroy W. Allen |url=http://www.peggyeldridgelove.com/6201.html |website=www.peggyeldridgelove.com |accessdate=27 December 2018}}</ref> |- | 2002|| ''Black Romantic'' || Studio Museum in Harlem|| Allen's works included were watercolors “Contemplation”, “Sundrops” and charcoal on paper pieces “The Glance”and “Papa Jim”. Other artists included Troy L. Johnson, Kadir Nelson and Kehinde Wiley.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kimmelman |first1=Michael |title=ART REVIEW; A Black World Of Ins and Outs |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/26/arts/art-review-a-black-world-of-ins-and-outs.html |accessdate=27 December 2018 |work=The New York Times |date=26 April 2002}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Black romantic: the figurative impulse in contemporary African-American art. |date=2002 |publisher=Studio Museum in Harlem |isbn=9780942949230 |oclc=50256393 |language=English}}</ref> |- | 2003|| ''Celebrations and Investigations: African-American Artists in Kansas City Collections'' || Gallery at Village Shalom, Kansas City Jewish Museum, MO ||Artists including Leroy Allen, Dawoud Bey, NedRa Bonds, Sonya Y. S. Clark, Kerry James Marshall, Robert A. Powell, Lezley Saar, Lorna Simpson, Renee Stout, Kara Walker and Carrie Mae Weems.<ref>{{cite web |title=Allen, Leroy W |url=http://216.197.120.164/artistbibliog.cfm?id=1134 |website=216.197.120.164 |publisher=African American Visual Artists Database |accessdate=27 December 2018 |archive-date=16 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210316231951/http://216.197.120.164/artistbibliog.cfm?id=1134 |url-status=dead }}</ref> |- | 2003|| ''The Light in the Other Room'' || American Jazz Museum, Kansas City, MO|| Willis “Bing” Davis, curator. Exhibiting with Allen were 20 artists including NedRa Bonds, Ed Hogan, Lonnie Powell.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Thorson |first1=Alice |title=Sharing the light Black KC artists explore joy and possibility in group exhibit |issue=Kansas City Star |date=17 Jan 2003 |page=22}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Trafton |first1=Robin |title=Group show shines a light on black artists |work=Kansas City Star |date=12 Dec 2003 |page=20}}</ref> |- | 2004|| ''Sacred Center'' || Stella Jones Gallery, New Orleans, LA|| Two-person exhibit with Dennis Paul Williams.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Johnson, PhD |first1=Eloise |title=Leroy Allen "Sacred Center" |date=2004 |publisher=Stella Jones Gallery |page=2}}</ref> |- | 2004|| ''Southern Journeys'' || Alexandria Museum of Art, Alexandria LA || Allen is one of 80 artists, including Henry O. Tanner, John Biggers, Jacob Lawrence and Romare Bearden.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The International Review of African American Art |date=2005 |page=106 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bXDrAAAAMAAJ&q=Southern+Journeys+Alexandria+Museum+of+Art+2004 |accessdate=27 December 2018 |publisher=Museum of African American Art |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Art Notes |work=Kansas City Star |date=31 October 2004 |page=3}}</ref> |- | 2005|| ''Second Light'' || Carter Art Center Gallery, Penn Valley Community College, Kansas City, MO || Fourteen artists exhibited including Allen, Dean Mitchell, George Mayfield, and Bonnye Brown.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cardarella |first1=Toni |title=Gallery's show spotlights African-American artists |work=Kansas City Star |date=1 June 2005 |page=3}}</ref> |- | 2007|| ''You Know What's Real'' || Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, KS ||Works on paper from the museum's permanent collection, including work by Allen.<ref>{{cite web |title=You Know What's Real |url=http://www.nermanmuseum.org/exhibitions/2007-10-26-you-know-whats-real.html |website=www.jccc.edu |accessdate=27 December 2018 |language=en}}</ref> |- | 2009|| ''Collaborations: Two Decades of African American Art: Hearne Fine Art 1988-2008'' || Pyramid / Hearne Fine Art, Little Rock, AR ||57 artists including Leroy Allen, Benny Andrews, Phoebe Beasley, Bisa Butler, Elizabeth Catlett, Frank Frazier, Paul Goodnight, Jonathan Green, Brenda Joysmith, Phyllis Stephens, and William Tolliver.<ref>{{cite web |title=Publication: Collaborations: Two Decades of African American Art - Hearne Fine Art 1988 - 2008 |url=https://hearnefineart.com/store/publications/4/ |website=Hearne Fine Art |accessdate=27 December 2018 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Taha |first1=Halima |last2=Smith |first2=Dianne |title=Collaborations: two decades of African American art : Hearne Fine Art 1988-2008 |date=2008 |publisher=Blue Lotus |isbn=9781607251309 |oclc=298819650 |language=English}}</ref> |- | 2012|| ''Shades of Greatness'' || Campanella Gallery, Park University, Arkville, MO|| A traveling exhibition organized by the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, 35 pieces, including works by Leroy Allen, Bonnye Browne and Kadir Nelson.<ref>{{cite news |last1=American |first1=Daniel R. Brown Of the St Louis |title=Negro Leagues art exhibit barnstorms into town |url=http://www.stlamerican.com/entertainment/living_it/negro-leagues-art-exhibit-barnstorms-into-town/article_8146a667-40ad-5b0e-b7a7-26f31e8cbb6c.html |accessdate=27 December 2018 |work=St. Louis American |language=en}}</ref> |- | 2017|| ''A Dazzling Decade'' ||Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, KS ||Art from the museum's permanent collection, including work by Allen. |- |}
==Awards== * “Nestle in Sunset”, Miriam Whitsett Memorial Award, Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, MS (2003) * “Sundrops”, a watercolor painting, Connoisseur Award, California Watercolor Association's 35th National Exhibition, Academy of Art College Gallery, San Francisco, CA (2003)<ref>{{cite news |last1=Thorson |first1=Alice |title=Art Notes |work=Kansas City Star |issue=13 April 2003 |page=J4}}</ref> * Jurors Award, Arizona Aqueous XVI 2001 National Juried Exhibition, Tubac Center for the Arts, Tubac, AZ (2001). * “Papa Jim”, a charcoal piece, Best Drawing Award, Bosque Conservatory Art Council's 16th Annual National Art Competition, Bosque Conservatory, Clifton, TX (2001).<ref>{{cite news |last1=Thorson |first1=Alice |title=Art Notes |work=Kansas City Star |date=7 Oct 2001 |page=I3}}</ref> * Merchandise Award, Pastel Society of North Florida at the Fort Walton Beach Museum of Art, “Pastel '98” juried exhibition.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Thorson |first1=Alice |title=Art Notes |work=Kansas City Star |date=3 May 1998 |page=M3}}</ref> * “Ma'am” (Tribute to P.H. Polk), Juror's Award of Excellence, Oklahoma Art Workshops' 11th Annual National Juried Exhibition (1994).<ref>{{cite news |title=Art Notes |work=Kansas City Star |date=30 Oct 1994 |page=J4}}</ref>
==Collections== * Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, KS<ref>{{cite web |title=A Dazzling Decade |url=http://www.nermanmuseum.org/exhibitions/2017-06-22-dazzling-decade.html |website=www.jccc.edu |accessdate=27 December 2018 |language=en}}</ref> * Petrucci Family Foundation Collection of African American Art<ref>{{cite web |title=Leroy Allen |url=https://pffcollection.com/artists/leroy-allen/?sf_action=get_data&sf_data=results |website=Petrucci Family Foundation Collection of African American Art | date=3 September 2016 |accessdate=27 December 2018}}</ref> * Sprint Nextel Art Collection includes Allen's American Sunrise, a still life featuring a blue pitcher with berries.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Thorson |first1=Alice |title=A huge loss to KC - Artist's works captured the humanity of everyday people |work=Kansas City Star |date=8 April 2007 |page=6}}</ref> * Portrait of first African American mayor of St. Louis Freeman R. Bosley, Jr. by Leroy Allen, St. Louis City Hall, 2nd floor with portraits of past mayors.<ref>{{cite web |title=Leroy Allen Unveiling Ceremony |website = YouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7PhIJNUZpw |accessdate=27 December 2018}}</ref>
==Death== Allen died of suicide in March 2007 and is laid to rest in Kansas City, Kansas. In 2008, “[http://lonniepowell.com/?page_id=59 This One I'll Do (For Leroy)]”, a charcoal portrait of Leroy Allen by artist Lonnie Powell, was included in the exhibit “To Create a Better World: Artists as Educators.”<ref>{{cite news |title=These art teachers are accomplished artists too |work=Kansas City Star |date=21 Aug 2008 |page=E23}}</ref>
==External links== *{{Find a Grave|94953922}} * [http://216.197.120.164/artistbibliog.cfm?id=1134 Leroy Allen] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210316231951/http://216.197.120.164/artistbibliog.cfm?id=1134 |date=2021-03-16 }} on the African American Visual Artists Database
==References== {{reflist}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Leroy}} Category:1951 births Category:2007 deaths Category:20th-century American painters Category:American male painters Category:American watercolorists Category:American comics artists Category:Painters from Kansas Category:Hallmark Cards artists Category:People from Kansas City, Kansas Category:20th-century African-American painters Category:21st-century African-American artists Category:20th-century American male artists