Born to immigrant Bohemian parents in Hamtramck, Michigan, painter and printmaker Leo Meissner studied art under John Wicker at the Detroit Fine Arts Academy. Following service in World War I, Meissner returned and resumed his studies at the Academy. He won a scholarship at the Art Students League in New York, where he studied with George Luks and others. He joined the staff of the magazine Charm as Assistant Art Director, beginning a long career in art direction. Meissner discovered the charms of Monhegan Island, Maine and was a regular figure there for over 50 years. He established a working studio at his house there and refined his talents as both painter and printmaker, exhibiting his prints in more than sixty one-man shows over the years.

Meissner became a full academician at the National Academy of Design as well as a member of such groups as the Prairie Print Makers, Salmagundi Club, Society of American Graphic Artist, and others. His work is held by numerous institutions as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Library of Congress, the National Gallery of Art, New York Public Library, Smith College Museum of Art among many others.