The large 19th-century home on West Main Street in Newark, Del., has been converted into apartments.

Most of the tenants are college students, who inhabit the segmented structure for a few years and then move on. But, one of the first-floor residents is different--older, more experienced and much wiser, with a distinguished career in fine art and a valuable knowledge of Newark's history.

Leo Laskaris, AG '39, can tell tales of this college town most native Newarkers don't know. His father, James, owned the Deluxe Luncheonette, the next-door neighbor to the former State Theatre on Main Street, where the Galleria now stands. Leo and his brothers--George, Thomas and Chris--and his sisters--Helen and Christine--all worked in the family business.

Leo Laskaris graduated from the University with a degree in agronomy and was offered a graduate fellowship in plant genetics at Cornell University. But, he says, he turned down the fellowship because an elective course in art history, taught by the late Prof. Harriet Baily, had ignited his passion for art.

"We studied the lives of famous artists," Laskaris says. "It was that course that made me decide I wanted to take up art."

Seated in the front room of his residence, Laskaris is surrounded by hundreds of his artworks: Massive pieces lean in rows against several walls, others are stacked in racks that climb toward the ceiling, while more colorful images, created during the last half century, cover much of the apartment's wall space.

Recalling his service in the U.S. Army in World War II, Laskaris says he continued to paint at each post where he was assigned. He proudly passes over a copy of a booklet entitled Soldier Art, which features paintings created by those serving in the military.

Laskaris says Forest City Landing, his oil painting of the harbor defenses of Portland, Maine, was one of 10 pieces from the book that was displayed in the Armed Services Personnel Exhibit in 1945 at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

A look at Laskaris' work and a quick glance at his resumé show that his long career has undergone significant changes, beginning with his Expressionism period when he was influenced by his studies at the Chicago Art Institute.

Later, under the GI Bill, he studied at Amédée Ozenfant's School of Art in New York City. Founder of the Purism movement, Ozenfant first operated a school with Ferdinand Leger in Paris before moving to New York.

"Many guest artists--among them Miró--came to teach at Ozenfant's school," Laskaris says.

His later painting styles include linear space and organic forms, and the subjects range from still life to portraits to landscapes. Some are in full color, others in pen and ink, but many of the more recent creations bear his special technique--creating color configurations with a structure of colorful floating lines.

In a statement he developed, Laskaris describes himself as "a conceptual painter. Painting for me is a combined expression of ideas and emotions--ideas on a universal level and feelings on a mystical basis. This expression finds its inspiration in nature, whether it be light, atmosphere or organic forms."

A stunning example of one of Laskaris' earlier works is a three-panel mural (each 6 feet high by 12 feet wide) commissioned by the Newark Trust Co. in 1954. In the series entitled The Little World, Laskaris says he tried to capture the history and symbolism of the college town through the three mural themes: Newark: A Cityscape, Newark and God and Newark and Energy.

In a 1955 booklet accompanying the murals, Frank H. Sommer, then assistant professor of art, wrote: "Mr. Laskaris' murals represent an attempt to use the language of contemporary art in order to remind us of the deep meaning which is hidden in ourselves, and the importance the past holds for us in helping us to understand our lives and the universe in which we lead them."

Since 1977, the murals have been on permanent display in the City Council Chamber of the Newark Municipal Building.

Laskaris' Blue Hen Mosaic (4 feet wide by 7 feet high), found in the lobby of the University's Willard Hall Education Building, is one of four works of his owned by UD.

In 1957, Wilmington's Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church commissioned several even larger pieces--paintings on canvas to decorate a 2,500-square-foot area and a 750+ square-foot mosaic panel behind the altar.

When asked how many paintings he has created, the artist pauses for a few moments and answers, "Thousands. I have given a few to family members. I gave one painting to every niece and nephew. I passed the word that they each get one painting."

In 2003, Laskaris had no difficulty providing Tower Hill School in Wilmington, Del., with 100 paintings for an exhibition of artworks from his early years through 2000.

Laskaris says it's satisfying to meet individuals who own his paintings and enjoy them. Once, he was visiting a local art store picking up painting supplies, and the owner was framing one of Laskaris' works.

For a time, Laskaris himself operated an art school in Newark, initially on the first floor of the Newark Academy Building (which was then City Hall), then on the fourth floor of the Newark Opera House (now Academy Apartments) and later in a studio behind Fader's Bakery on Main Street, just east of the present Galleria. While working as a full-time art teacher for 20 years at Stanton Elementary School, Laskaris shared his passion for art with thousands of youngsters.

As for his favorite painting, Laskaris says it's hard to identify a single special work. "I don't paint to sell," he adds, pulling another piece from
a nearby bin.

Laskaris says his zeal and interest in painting are not as intense as they once were. Yet, one gets the impression that if another idea catches the artist's fancy, he would find it easy to pick up a brush.

"I love to paint, but I've done it. After all, how much can you paint? " he says. "But, maybe inspiration will strike again."

Holding up an untitled work, a large acrylic landscape, he says, "This is my last painting. It's the culmination of everything I have painted. It's a summary of all of the different styles that I have gone through." He explains how the plants and spacing between the objects in the water and along the landscape represent different aspects of design and color, thought and meaning.

"Art," Laskaris says, "is an expression of one's self. Art also is a desire or urge to create. You don't think of it as a chore. It's a challenge to make things work. You have to use your years of knowledge to think of the correct colors and composition and address the problems. It's a satisfying feeling when a work comes out the way you want it to."