Martin B. Leisser

Martin B. Leisser was a pioneering artist and teacher in Pittsburgh. He was born into a German immigrant family on the South Side before its annexation by the city of Pittsburgh. In the days before the establishment of local art schools, Leisser trained in the studio of George Hetzel and by travelling through Europe. He first gained notoriety for “The Crusaders,” a painting from 1874 depicting a group of temperance activists invading a saloon. He helped found the Pittsburgh Art Society and is credited with convincing Andrew Carnegie to include an art school at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, now Carnegie Mellon University. He had met Carnegie in the elevator of a building where both men had offices. From his studio on Fourth Avenue downtown and his home at 833 Ridge Avenue on the North Side, Leisser painted portraits of some of the most notable figures in Pittsburgh. He continued working until shortly before death at 94.