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| Eli Leon, 82, Dies; Champion of African-American Quilt Makers | Eli Leon, 82, Dies; Champion of African-American Quilt Makers |
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| Eli Leon, a psychologist, writer and collector and self-taught scholar of African-American quilts, who helped bring attention to the field and especially the quilts of Rosie Lee Tompkins, died on March 6 in Emeryville, Calif. He was 82. | Eli Leon, a psychologist, writer and collector and self-taught scholar of African-American quilts, who helped bring attention to the field and especially the quilts of Rosie Lee Tompkins, died on March 6 in Emeryville, Calif. He was 82. |
| The cause was septic shock, said Jenny Hurth, a close friend and the executor of his estate. Mr. Leon, who died at a care facility, had learned he had primary progressive aphasia in 2012. | The cause was septic shock, said Jenny Hurth, a close friend and the executor of his estate. Mr. Leon, who died at a care facility, had learned he had primary progressive aphasia in 2012. |
| Mr. Leon was an obsessive collector — or, perhaps more accurately, a highly discriminating hoarder. Every wall and shelf of his small Craftsman bungalow on Dover Street in Oakland, Calif., where he had lived since 1962, was lined with carefully arranged small, everyday objects and idiosyncratic thrift-store finds, many of them green. | Mr. Leon was an obsessive collector — or, perhaps more accurately, a highly discriminating hoarder. Every wall and shelf of his small Craftsman bungalow on Dover Street in Oakland, Calif., where he had lived since 1962, was lined with carefully arranged small, everyday objects and idiosyncratic thrift-store finds, many of them green. |
| There were tiny dolls and dollhouse furniture set up in vignettes, baskets made of Popsicle sticks, Depression glass, trivets made of bottle caps crocheted together, rows of shaving brushes and egg timers, and, especially impressive, a collection of at least 30 meat grinders installed on a shelf running the width of his kitchen. | There were tiny dolls and dollhouse furniture set up in vignettes, baskets made of Popsicle sticks, Depression glass, trivets made of bottle caps crocheted together, rows of shaving brushes and egg timers, and, especially impressive, a collection of at least 30 meat grinders installed on a shelf running the width of his kitchen. |
| The display included his own work: shoe boxes decorated with collages of bright cutout paper, tie-dye fabrics, and posters he designed, many of which advertised programs at the Berkeley Free University. | The display included his own work: shoe boxes decorated with collages of bright cutout paper, tie-dye fabrics, and posters he designed, many of which advertised programs at the Berkeley Free University. |
| But he’ll be most remembered for his passion for African-American quilts, especially those of the artist Rosie Lee Tompkins (1936-2006), whom he met at a flea market in the Oakland area in 1985. | But he’ll be most remembered for his passion for African-American quilts, especially those of the artist Rosie Lee Tompkins (1936-2006), whom he met at a flea market in the Oakland area in 1985. |
| Ms. Tompkins is so far the only woman in the pantheon of great self-taught artists — among them Bill Traylor, Henry Darger, Martín Ramírez and James Castle — whose achievements came to light in the second half of the 20th century and have altered the shape of American art history. | Ms. Tompkins is so far the only woman in the pantheon of great self-taught artists — among them Bill Traylor, Henry Darger, Martín Ramírez and James Castle — whose achievements came to light in the second half of the 20th century and have altered the shape of American art history. |
| Several of these artists had what might be called, for lack of a better word, saviors: individuals who encountered their work, recognized its significance and were instrumental in preserving it and bringing it to a broader audience. Mr. Leon was Rosie Lee Tompkins’s savior. | Several of these artists had what might be called, for lack of a better word, saviors: individuals who encountered their work, recognized its significance and were instrumental in preserving it and bringing it to a broader audience. Mr. Leon was Rosie Lee Tompkins’s savior. |
| “Eli Leon turned the full force of his exceptional intelligence and visual acumen onto the field of African-American quilts,” Lawrence Rinder, director of the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, told The San Francisco Chronicle. “His exhibitions and publications, as well as his phenomenal collections, leave a profound legacy.” | “Eli Leon turned the full force of his exceptional intelligence and visual acumen onto the field of African-American quilts,” Lawrence Rinder, director of the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, told The San Francisco Chronicle. “His exhibitions and publications, as well as his phenomenal collections, leave a profound legacy.” |
| Robert Stanley Leon was born in the Bronx on June 27, 1935, the son of Benjamin and Sylvia Leon. His father was a jeweler and watch repairman, and his parents, first-generation Jews from Lithuania, ran a small accessory shop on the Lower East Side. | Robert Stanley Leon was born in the Bronx on June 27, 1935, the son of Benjamin and Sylvia Leon. His father was a jeweler and watch repairman, and his parents, first-generation Jews from Lithuania, ran a small accessory shop on the Lower East Side. |
| He attended the High School of Music and Art, where his interests included poetry, graphics and ceramics. While still in high school, he spent a summer at Black Mountain College in North Carolina, studying with the potter Karen Karnes. | |
| After high school, Mr. Leon entered Oberlin College in Ohio before transferring to Reed College in Portland, Ore., where he earned a bachelor of arts degree in psychology in 1958. He then earned a master’s from the University of Chicago, where he trained in Reichian psychotherapy, the practice of which became his main source of income. | After high school, Mr. Leon entered Oberlin College in Ohio before transferring to Reed College in Portland, Ore., where he earned a bachelor of arts degree in psychology in 1958. He then earned a master’s from the University of Chicago, where he trained in Reichian psychotherapy, the practice of which became his main source of income. |
| In the late 1950s and early ’60s, he was briefly married to his college girlfriend, Anne Drummond, although they both knew he was gay. Sometime after that he changed his first name to Eli. | In the late 1950s and early ’60s, he was briefly married to his college girlfriend, Anne Drummond, although they both knew he was gay. Sometime after that he changed his first name to Eli. |
| In the 1970s, Mr. Leon became a regular at flea markets in and around Oakland, buying quilts of all kinds. In short order, he decided to concentrate on African-American quilts because their irregular, improvisatory patterns appealed to him. He began asking people at flea markets if they knew of any local quilt makers. | In the 1970s, Mr. Leon became a regular at flea markets in and around Oakland, buying quilts of all kinds. In short order, he decided to concentrate on African-American quilts because their irregular, improvisatory patterns appealed to him. He began asking people at flea markets if they knew of any local quilt makers. |
| One day he approached Ms. Tompkins as she was selling household items at a flea market. As he later wrote, “She was evasive, but eventually let on that she herself dabbled in the craft.” | One day he approached Ms. Tompkins as she was selling household items at a flea market. As he later wrote, “She was evasive, but eventually let on that she herself dabbled in the craft.” |
| Dazzled by her work, he began to buy whatever she would sell him while also buying from other members of a large community of African-American quilt makers in the Oakland area. Over 30 years he accrued a collection of around 3,500 quilts, including some 200 by Ms. Tompkins. (With his death, how that collection will be disposed of is not yet known.) | Dazzled by her work, he began to buy whatever she would sell him while also buying from other members of a large community of African-American quilt makers in the Oakland area. Over 30 years he accrued a collection of around 3,500 quilts, including some 200 by Ms. Tompkins. (With his death, how that collection will be disposed of is not yet known.) |
| Mr. Leon also began studying the quilts, relating their ad hoc patterns to textiles made in West Africa. And he made trips to the area of northeast Texas, northwest Louisiana and southern Arkansas, where many of the African-American quilt makers he knew in California had come from, visiting their relatives, interviewing them and buying more quilts. In 1989, he received a Guggenheim Fellowship to conduct research in the South. | Mr. Leon also began studying the quilts, relating their ad hoc patterns to textiles made in West Africa. And he made trips to the area of northeast Texas, northwest Louisiana and southern Arkansas, where many of the African-American quilt makers he knew in California had come from, visiting their relatives, interviewing them and buying more quilts. In 1989, he received a Guggenheim Fellowship to conduct research in the South. |
| Mr. Leon organized his first exhibition of quilts from his collection in 1987 at the San Francisco Craft and Folk Art Museum under the title “Who’d a Thought It: Improvisation in African-American Quiltmaking.” He would go on to organize nearly a dozen exhibitions across the country. | Mr. Leon organized his first exhibition of quilts from his collection in 1987 at the San Francisco Craft and Folk Art Museum under the title “Who’d a Thought It: Improvisation in African-American Quiltmaking.” He would go on to organize nearly a dozen exhibitions across the country. |
| After seeing Ms. Tompkins’s work in a show that Mr. Leon had organized at the Richmond Art Center, Mr. Rinder, then a curator at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, organized her first solo exhibition in 1997. He also included her quilts in the 2000 Whitney Biennial while working as a curator at the Whitney Museum in New York. | After seeing Ms. Tompkins’s work in a show that Mr. Leon had organized at the Richmond Art Center, Mr. Rinder, then a curator at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, organized her first solo exhibition in 1997. He also included her quilts in the 2000 Whitney Biennial while working as a curator at the Whitney Museum in New York. |
| The most ambitious of Mr. Leon’s shows was “Accidentally on Purpose: The Aesthetic Management of Irregularities in African Textiles and African-American Quilts,” held at the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, Iowa, in 2006, the year Ms. Tompkins died. | The most ambitious of Mr. Leon’s shows was “Accidentally on Purpose: The Aesthetic Management of Irregularities in African Textiles and African-American Quilts,” held at the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, Iowa, in 2006, the year Ms. Tompkins died. |
| Mr. Leon’s house was filled with quilts. One had to negotiate among two-foot-high piles of them in his living room — even though he had built a garage-size climate-controlled addition to contain the overflow. | Mr. Leon’s house was filled with quilts. One had to negotiate among two-foot-high piles of them in his living room — even though he had built a garage-size climate-controlled addition to contain the overflow. |
| Ms. Hurth spoke of efforts to get things under control. One year she helped stage a sale of the many Anglo quilts that Mr. Leon had acquired and in which he was no longer interested. But, she said, he was willing to part with only six. | Ms. Hurth spoke of efforts to get things under control. One year she helped stage a sale of the many Anglo quilts that Mr. Leon had acquired and in which he was no longer interested. But, she said, he was willing to part with only six. |
| Asked if Mr. Leon had made any quilts himself, Ms. Hurth said he had — seven of them — to keep himself occupied while he was waiting to hear about the Guggenheim Fellowship in 1989. But she said he might have intended to make more. | Asked if Mr. Leon had made any quilts himself, Ms. Hurth said he had — seven of them — to keep himself occupied while he was waiting to hear about the Guggenheim Fellowship in 1989. But she said he might have intended to make more. |
| Clearing out the quilts from his attic after he moved to the care facility in November 2016, Ms. Hurth discovered that the floor beneath them was covered edge to edge with at least 12 inches of clothing and vintage fabric. | Clearing out the quilts from his attic after he moved to the care facility in November 2016, Ms. Hurth discovered that the floor beneath them was covered edge to edge with at least 12 inches of clothing and vintage fabric. |