| LeRoy Neiman, the most popular painter in America passed away June 2012. He was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, and studied at the Art Institute of Chicago where he also taught for ten years before moving to New York City in 1962. His subject matter is Pop: a celebration of sports and entertainment dating back to the mid 50's. Neiman was one of the first Playboy illustrators. I first met LeRoy at the Playboy Club in New York when LeRoy was sitting at the bar sketching. His style is not that of a classical Pop Artist. Neiman's style is filled with the dramatic intensity of Abstract Expressionist brush strokes, strokes that pick out action that is strikingly accurate. This unique combination is so appealing that Neiman has brought art into the lives of more people than most post-war American artists put together. One of the reasons he is so well known is that he has been the official artist for ABC Television at the Olympic Games of 1972 and 1976, and CBS artist at the New Orleans Superbowl of 1978. But it is his prints that are most loved by Neiman collectors. During the 1970s he published over 180 limited editions of serigraphs which have become as much sought after as the prints of Miro, Chagall, and Picasso. His work is now in the permanent collections of many museums including the Baltimore Museum of Fine Art, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Museo de Bellas Artes in Caracas, the Hermitage in Leningrad, and the Art Institute of Chicago. |