In Thursday’s story about Butler Institute of American Art acquiring two Alred Leslie paintings, incorrect information was provided to the newspaper. The Butler purchased Leslie’s painting “High Tea,” and “Americans: Youngstown, Ohio” was donated to the museum by Leslie’s estate.

YOUNGSTOWN — “Americans: Youngstown, Ohio” now has a permanent home in the city where it was created.

The estate of artist Alfred Leslie, who died in 2023 at age 95, donated the massive work to the Butler Institute of American Art. The museum also purchased “High Tea,” one of Leslie’s earlier Abstract Expressionist works, for its permanent collection for $300,000.

Leslie was a second generation Abstract Expressionist who shifted to realistic figures in the 1960s.

Created on four panels, the oil-on-canvas “Americans” measures 9-feet-by-24-feet. Butler Executive Director Louis A. Zona was one of the 14 models Leslie used in 1977-78 for “Americans,” which had a very different working title.

“He asked me to find 10 or 12 people who will dress like they are going to the movies,” Zona said. “He had just seen ‘Star Wars,’ and he was amazed at the age differences of the people in the line and waiting to get into the movie. So he was basically painting ‘Star Wars.’ In fact, that was the working title for the work.”

Each model had to pose for about three days for the larger-than-life painting.

“When you went to lunch or went to class, you had to leave your shoes, so he would know the positioning on your body,” Zona said. “I think he was a fan of (16th century Italian painter) Caravaggio, although he would probably have denied that. The dramatic use of light and dark is what made him famous during the period of his Realist phase.”

Both “Americans” and “High Tea” are on display in the Dennison / Brown Gallery on the first floor of the Butler, 524 Wick Ave.