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Leopold “Leo” Segedin, who taught at �����о��� for more than 30 years, died on Jan. 7, 2025. He was 97 years old.

Segedin was a faculty member for more than 30 years in what is now known as the Department of Art + Design. He began teaching at �����о���n in 1955 and retired in 1987. In 1988, he was awarded the rank of Professor Emeritus of Art. During his tenure, Segedin developed the University’s Art and Society course, which is still taught today as ARTH-101. He earned his BFA in 1948 and MFA in 1950, both from the University of �����о���s Urbana-Champaign. He was drafted into the Army during the Korean War, and stationed in Fort Belvoir in Virginia, where he taught mechanical drawing. Over the years, his art and remarkable practice of painting every day — well into his 90s — were chronicled by ,  and the . 

�����о���n Professor Emerita of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Theodora “Teddy” Bofman was Segedin’s cousin. Though there was around a 20 year age gap between them, they were very close. As the children of immigrants, with no college education, Bofman said she and Segedin easily connected to the students at �����о���n because they could, to a certain extent, understand where they were coming from.

“It wasn’t a given that Leo would be a successful member of society, or as successful as he was,” Bofman said. “Like many of our students at NEIU, our parents didn’t come from wealth. Yet, he made it. So, his life was a way to show others that it’s possible. There’s a reason why people like Leo can do so much good at a place like �����о���n.”

 
"Hey Kid I" by Leopold Segedin (1988)

In reflecting on Segedin’s work, Bofman noted that he painted a lot about his early life, being bullied in rough neighborhoods and about the memories he held, as well as the nature of memory.

“We talked about memory a lot — how it’s fragile and strong at the same time,” Bofman said. “He remembered the games he played as a child and if you look at his paintings, you’ll see there’s a hat in them a lot. It was an unusual hat, not like one I’d ever seen elsewhere. I asked him about why it was there and he said ‘In my day, that’s what kids wore.’ It was an important memory for him.” 

 
"L Station (Three Ages)" by Leopold Segedin (2002)

Elle Arnot was a student of Segedin’s in the early 1970s. She had been teaching French at a high school and taking art classes at the Evanston Arts Center for enjoyment. Segedin was her instructor at the Evanston Arts Center and he encouraged Arnot to take some classes with him at �����о���n. 

“I took every course I could take with Leo,” Arnot said. “Leo was an inspiration and a mentor. I wish everyone had a mentor, a friend, like him.”

Arnot said that because of the encouragement she received at �������n from Segedin and other faculty members in the department, she applied to the School of the Art Institute and earned her MFA.

“He really set the course for me and encouraged me to be an artist,” said Arnot, who is now in her 70s and, like Segedin, still paints regularly.

She also has one of Segedin’s paintings, a self-portrait, looking down on her everyday. Arnot knows Segedin made a lasting impression not only on her, but on many of his students. 

“In the 1970s it was still not common for women to get support and be taken seriously in the art world and art job market,” Arnot said. “Leo took us seriously and we took that with us to overcome a lot of obstacles on our journeys.”

Segedin published three . “Leopold Segedin: A Habit of Art” was published in 2018 and documented his life through his own words and works of art. His second book, “Segedin x Segedin: Self Portraits and Cameos 1944-2020” was published in 2020 and features more than 120 of his self portraits. “The Holocaust Series: Paintings & Drawings 1967-79,” was published in 2023. 

In July 2024, Arnot had an exhibition of her “Salsa” series, art inspired by salsa and Latin jazz, through the East County Art Association in California, where she now resides. Arnot mentioned that while she was working on the series, she’d pulled out Segedin’s books and his work became the palette for her paintings. 

“Two paintings in the series are devoted to Leo, like a tribute to him, in color and composition,” Arnot said. “He’s a lifetime mentor. I don’t know if I'll get to be as old as he was, but he taught me through example that if you’re an artist, you’re an artist. It’s who you are, but it takes a long time to absorb that because our society doesn’t always support artists.”

Arnot recalled sitting in Segedin’s Art and Society class, watching slideshows, and gaining an appreciation for Segedin’s understanding that art reflects society and society reflects art.

 
"Rush Hour #8" by Leopold Segedin (1994)

In a 2013 feature on , the late art critic James “Jim” Yood of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, called Segedin “a great poet of Chicago.” While much of his work reflected his upbringing on Chicago’s West Side, Segedin’s art embodied a wide range of subjects, including a series in which he reflected on the  in ways he did not see depicted by other artists in the 1960s and 1970s.

“Much of Leo’s work was very personal,” Arnot said. “It was a reflection of his life and childhood, but also of the history of Chicago. It deals with a lot of issues—like the Holocaust, bigotry, antisemitism—but it doesn’t put it in your face. He does it pictorially so you don’t just pass by a Leo Segedin painting; you have to look at it.”

Segedin said in the aforementioned 2013 WTTW interview that he wasn’t “painting for a gallery;” he was painting because he had “something to say.” Yet, his work has been displayed at numerous galleries and museums including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Corcoran Art Gallery in Washington, D.C., the Milwaukee Art Institute and the Chicago Cultural Center. 

 
"Old Men Dancing II" by Leopold Segedin (2010)

On the day of his death, a new exhibit, “Leopold Segedin: Conflict & Confrontation,” opened at the  in Chicago. The exhibit runs through Oct. 17. Another exhibition, “Leopold Segedin: A Habit of Art: Paintings From 2015 to the Present" is expected to run at the  from July 8 to Aug. 10. Additionally, Segedin donated a piece of art to �����о���n, which hangs behind the circulation desk on the first floor of the Ronald Williams Library. 

Arnot is glad Segedin’s sons have helped him to get his work out as much as they have, but would like even more people to know about his work. In true �����о���n fashion, she suggested people stand outside of the Art Institute with huge reproductions of his work and signs that say “we want Leo,” in an effort to have his work shown there, among other great and well-known artists. 

“Leo had unending curiosity,” said Arnot. “He had integrity and humor. His values were his values and he lived his truth.”

That truth, however bright or bleak, was reflected in his brushstrokes.

“People always talk about legacy,” Bofman said. “His legacy lives on in his paintings, in my home, in the paintings his friends and family have in their homes. It was a privilege to be his cousin.”

Segedin was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Jan; and his good friend and brother-in-law, Gilbert Freedman. He is survived by his sons, Benjamin and Paul; daughter-in-law, Carolyn Garrett; and granddaughter, Dora Segedin. He is also survived by his sister, Ruth Freedman; sister-in-law, Caryl Steinberg (the late Stuart Morris) and brother-in-law, Michael Steinberg; nieces and nephews, Laura White, Daniel Freedman, Liza Steinberg and Amy Steinberg; his dear friend, Mitzi Walchak; and his devoted caregivers, Rudy (Jun) Neric and William Toriado; as well as many friends and colleagues.

Segedin has been remembered in articles published in the  and the .

A celebration of life will be announced at a later date.

Top photo: A black and white headshot photo of Leopold Segedin. Photo by L Klug.