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Leon Makielski (1885-1974) was an American portrait and landscape painter who, in addition to maintaining a private commercial portrait studio, taught art at the University of Michigan (1915-1927) and the Meinsinger School of Art in Detroit. His portraits are listed in the Smithsonian Institution's Catalog of American Portraits. and many of the portraits depicting University of Michigan faculty and administrators are displayed in University buildings. This collection contains approximately 180 of Makielski's charcoal portraits, about a quarter of which depict University faculty and staff, and the rest of which depict a variety of subjects including doctors, prominent politicians and others.

This collection consists of approximately 180 charcoal portraits made by Leon Makielski between 1923 and 1961, with most dated between 1924 and 1931. About a third of the subjects of the portraits are former faculty and staff of the University of Michigan, where Makielski taught from 1915 to 1927. Other subjects include physicians, politicians, architects and golfers, among others. Notable subjects in the collection include Speaker of the House of Representatives Nicholas Longworth, Secretary of the Interior Ray Lyman Wilbur, Michigan governor Frank Murphy, Michigan State Supreme Court Justice Henry M. Butzel, Polish Ambassador to the United States Titus Filipowicz, and pro golfers Al Watrous and Walter Hagen. Many, though not all, of the portraits are signed. The collection also includes a spreadsheet identifying the subjects of the portraits and any known details about each of them (profession, association with the University, etc.).