Great Gifts - Artist - LeRoy Neiman

LeRoy Neiman is one of my favorite artists of all time. I remember first noticing his work at Arlington Racetrack and I instantly needed to know the artist's name. While not a cat fan per se, I do love the majesty of lions and tigers and big cats. Recently when I was searching for a fine oil painting of a Tiger, I found Leroy Neiman's most recent work which reminded me of my great love for this amazing artist. The Tiger painting is stunning - I simply sat memorized starring at the screen just stunned with the brilliance of his creation. The combination of the vibrancy of the colors with the celebration of nature in LeRoy Neiman's work is incomparable. The world has seen many great artists from Monet to Behrens to Erte to Delacroix to Pino to Zuckerman's fine art photography. All are great artists and I wouldn't and couldn't take anything away from them, the artistry of Neiman is unsurpassed - it is simply and constantly stunning.

In the video shown below, LeRoy Neiman details how his client wanted a fierce tiger but Neiman wanted a happy tiger. That is precisely what I love about this colorful work. It is not only vibrant and

Personal Account given in that video LeRoy Neiman himself recalls Jack Kennedy's birthday party with Marilyn Monroe - and what was the most memorable part of that evening? Marilyn Monroe's body!

LeRoy Neiman was born on June 8, 1921. He is best known for his bright surrel oil paintings. - somewhat abstract of racing horses, top athletes and landmark occasions such as the Jack Kennedy birthday party with Marilyn Monroe. His a Chicago, Illinois artist and sports an insanely large mustache.

One of the many things I love about Neiman - besides he is a master artist is the fact that he married his wife Janet over 50 years ago!

The internet tells me he has a New York home that overlooks Central Park that once was owned by Norman Rockwell and Rudolph Valentino. He and Janet live in the penthouse at the top with double-height ceilings with tremendous views of world renown Central Park, New York City, NY.

Neiman studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (where he also later taught), the University of Chicago, and the University of Illinois.

Additionally, Neiman is a veteran - having served in the US Army!

Life has amazing events. One of Neiman's first jobs was as a copywriter for Chicago's department store Carson, Pirie, Scot & Co in the early 1950s. Here he worked alongside another copywriter who created "PlayboyFemlin" which as you guessed it was created by his co-worker Hugh Hefner. Hefner started his career with this jokes page. And you know the rest of the story about Hefner.

As for Neiman, many of his first paintings were first showcased in Hefner's famous magazine Playboy. Like Hefner, Neiman's art was innovative. Even his forum of sporting events was never before used in the artist realm. Quickly Neiman was well known in racing, sailing, golf, and boxing along with major events such as the Kennedy birthday party.

Recently I came across his safari paintings including "Portrait of the Lion," "Portrait of the Elephant," and "Portrait of the Tiger."

I was surprised and delighted to learn that Neiman works in oil, enamel, watercolor, pencil drawings, pastels, serigraphs and some lithographs and etching.

Neiman art works are distributed by Hammer Graphics (who have represented him for over 35 years - Armor Hammer of New York, NY). Additionally, Knoedler Publishing Co. also of New York has carried Neiman's fine art.

What I love about Neiman artwork is its originality and energy. All of his artwork - no matter what subject simply shouts that it is happy. Neiman extols the virtues of happiness that God wants for his children. Call it rose colored glasses or Neiman's personal style - whatever the expression you are sure to smile when you view any of his creations from sports to tigers to fine racing horses to the memorable Jack Kennedy birthday party with Marilyn Monroe!

Safari Series

Enjoy the video below that details many of the wonderful examples of Neiman's work in his series on animals in the safari. My personal favorite is the "Portrait of the Lion" - majestic yet very happy. I could stare at that painting all day long!

Racing Series

The strength and the beauty of exceptional race horses is a miracle of artwork under the painter's brush of LeRoy Neiman. Anyone can instantly pick out the Neiman paintings. And again, the paintings are filled with energy and happiness.

Special Events & Celebrities

You know when you have made world renown status when Neiman paints your image. Ask Marilyn Monroe, John F. Kennedy, Mohamed Ali, and many others. And who better to present the iconic New York restaurant Tavern on the Green.

Sporting Events - Golf, Olympics and Special Occasions

Pebble Beach is memorable as well as his paintings on the Olympics.

Sailing Series

The many paintings he has created with sailboats showcases again the energy in his paintings. You can almost feel the the wind and hear the flutter of the strong sails.

Columbia University's LeRoy Neiman Center for Print Studies combines academics with printmaking media through various techniques. In the director's own words:

"The LeRoy Neiman Center for Print Studieswas founded by a generous endowment from LeRoy and Janet Neiman in 1996 to promote printmaking through education, production and exhibition of prints. The center provides students, as well as established artists, a rich environment to investigate and produce images through a myriad of printmaking techniques which include intaglio, lithography, silkscreen, relief, photography, and digital imaging.

In our academic programming, we encourage undergraduate and graduate students to explore the various printmaking media through a wide array of classes, fellowships, and studio work. In addition to strong technical instruction, we also support the students in creating work that challenges the established conventions of printmaking, moving print into new and innovative territory. Through our fellowship program, students have the opportunity to gain experience on the professional level by assisting with the production of artists' editioned work in the professional printshop.

The Neiman Center Gallery hosts a wide array of exhibitions throughout the year, showcasing the work of invited artists, Visual Arts faculty, undergraduate and graduate students and work produced in the professional printshop. The exhibits give student work public exposure in a professional setting and bring outside voices to the Neiman Center, creating a rich environment of display and dialogue.

As part of its goal to bring a professional element to Columbia's printmaking community, the Neiman Center invites artists to produce editioned print work in the professional printshop. We assist artists such as students, who are at an early stage of their career and have not yet had a chance to investigate the print medium. We also work with mid-career artists who have specific projects that fit our capabilities and are invited to make prints which they would otherwise not be able to produce in a commercial shop. Finally, we invite established artists who are interested in exploring new and exciting directions for their work in a less commercial environment. The projects produced by artists in collaboration with the Neiman Center provide a means of finance for supporting the Center's mission. These funds specifically sustain future artist and student collaborations, exhibitions, equipment upgrades, and fellowships."

LeRoy Neiman Gallery

On Exhibit

"LeRoy Neiman’s Muhammad Ali
This exhibition showcases Neiman’s talents as a sketch artist portraying Muhammad Ali’s charisma and physique with fine lines and detail. The exhibit showcases over 60 paintings and drawings...

About the Gallery

The LeRoy Neiman Gallery, located on Level 2 off the Main Lobby of the Muhammad Ali Center, is named for celebrated artist and Muhammad Ali friend, LeRoy Neiman. The Neiman Gallery features changing exhibits and serves as a pre-function area located just outside of the Ali Center’s Auditorium.

Double Take Gallery is an amazing website for fine art. This website includes a great biography on each artist but includes the inventory and an extensive history of the artist's work. The visual presentation is exceptional. Here is how Double Take Gallery describes itself:

"If you've been looking for a true fine art website, your search is over. Double Take Gallery is a fine art brokerage service dealing with the works of major artists. We offer art owners a secure way to sell their art through either our physical consignment gallery or through our classified ads program. We offer art buyers a comfortable and reassuring means of shopping for fine art."

Visit his website: LeRoy Neiman

"Best known for his brilliantly colored,stunningly energetic images of sporting events and leisure activities, LeRoy Neiman is probably the most popular living artist in the United States. His art is unique. It stands alone, without any real comparison. It is an art which has become controversial because Neiman has broken the barriers of many of the most hallowed assumptions of modern art history and contemporary criticism. It is an art that is loved by millions of people throughout America and around the world"

Double Take Gallery has provided the following detailed information about LeRoy Neiman:

Born and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota, Neiman studied briefly in St. Paul before moving to Chicago to study at the School of Art Institute of Chicago where he also taught for 10 years before moving to New York City in 1962.

Through his art, Neiman has explored contemporary leisure, all the pastimes and places people enjoy, and particularly the world of sports and the world of entertainment.

LeRoy Neiman's style explodes 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.

He has travelled and exhibited worldwide, from Moscow to Tokyo to Caracas. He has many published books, and has been honored with many awards for his art.

Since 1970 LeRoy Neiman has published hundreds of limited edition serigraphs which have become as much sought after as the prints of Miro, Chagall and Picasso.

His work is in the permanent collections of many museums including the Baltimore Museum of Fine Art, and Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Museo de Bellas Artes in Caracas, the Hermitage in Leningrad, and the Art Institute of Chicago.

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