36 S Wabash Ave #1201, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago where LeRoy Neiman studied from 1946 to 1950.
Gallery of LeRoy Neiman
1 E. Jackson Blvd. Chicago, IL 60604, United States
DePaul University which LeRoy Neiman attended until 1951.
Career
Gallery of LeRoy Neiman
1981
LeRoy Neiman and guests during the "Body & Soul" opening party on November 19, 1981, at Pegasus Disco in Beverly Hills, California.
Gallery of LeRoy Neiman
2001
LeRoy Neiman and Muhammad Ali (right) during Ali's visit to Neiman's New York studio to see his serigraph "Muhammad Ali-Athlete of the Century" in 2001.
Gallery of LeRoy Neiman
2007
LeRoy Neiman and former New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath (right) unveil and sign a limited edition serigraph, titled "Handoff - Super Bowl III," at the Neiman studio on January 18, 2007.
Gallery of LeRoy Neiman
2009
45 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10111, United States
LeRoy Nieman signs autographs at the 100 Days to Vancouver Celebration on November 4, 2009, at the Rockefeller Center in New York City.
Gallery of LeRoy Neiman
LeRoy Neiman near his 1980 painting depicting gamblers.
Gallery of LeRoy Neiman
787 Seventh Avenue, New York City, New York, United States
LeRoy Neiman during the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals photography exhibition on December 1, 1998, at Equitable Towers in New York City.
Achievements
“Football Star Constellation” by Neiman purchased at Sotheby's in New York City for $430,000 in 2015.
Membership
Awards
Order of Lincoln
The Order of Lincoln which LeRoy Neiman received in 2009.
LeRoy Neiman and Muhammad Ali (right) during Ali's visit to Neiman's New York studio to see his serigraph "Muhammad Ali-Athlete of the Century" in 2001.
LeRoy Neiman and former New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath (right) unveil and sign a limited edition serigraph, titled "Handoff - Super Bowl III," at the Neiman studio on January 18, 2007.
787 Seventh Avenue, New York City, New York, United States
LeRoy Neiman during the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals photography exhibition on December 1, 1998, at Equitable Towers in New York City.
LeRoy Neiman was an American artist, who represented Neo-Expressionism and Pop Art movements. He also created screen prints of athletes, musicians and sporting events, and authored twelve books.
Background
LeRoy Neiman was born on June 8, 1921 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. He was a son of Charles Runquist and Lydia (Serline) Runquist. When his father left the family, his mother married his stepfather, John L. Neiman and LeRoy changed his surname as well.
Education
After military service in the United States Army during World War II, LeRoy Neiman studied at the St. Paul School of Art (present-day Minnesota Museum of American Art). Since 1946 to 1950, he attended School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He also attended DePaul University, where he remained until 1951.
LeRoy Neiman received several honorary doctorate degrees from such educational institutions, as Franklin Pierce University (Doctor of Letters), St. John's University, Iona College, Hofstra University, St. Francis College and others.
During military service in the United States Army during World War II, LeRoy Neiman worked as a cook. Between 1950-1960, he served as a teacher at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. At that time, he also started to exhibit his works. In 1954, the artist started to contribute his works to Playboy magazine, producing sketches and paintings for the magazine's feature, called "Man at His Leisure". His collaboration with the magazine lasted over the next fifty years.
Since 1960, Neiman traveled around the world, attending the Olympics, the Super Bowl, the World Series, the Kentucky Derby and other sporting events, where he acted as an official artist. In 1961, LeRoy rented a studio in Paris. While living in France, he did studies of the Deauville social season and of famous French restaurants. Neiman also spent time in Italy, where he created the painting "Regatta of the Gondoliers" and also painted the filmmaker Federico Fellini.
His first solo shows outside the United States were held in galleries in London and Paris in 1962. After returning to the United States the next year, he established a studio in New York. In 1970, the artist created the illustration for The 5th Dimension's album, entitled "Portrait". Some time later, in 1998, LeRoy produced the illustrations for a special "Sports" issue of "The Nation" magazine.
Being incredibly prolific, Neiman made portraits of celebrities, such as boxer Muhammad Ali, quarterback Joe Namath, maestro Leonard Bernstein and poet Marianne Moore. He also painted historical events, including the 1980 Democratic National Convention. He established LeRoy Neiman Center for Print Studies at Columbia University in New York and the LeRoy Neiman Campus Center at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he served as a member of advisory committee. In 2000, the artist established LeRoy Neiman Art Center for Youth in San Francisco. In 2008, LeRoy founded another new center in Harlem for children of the area to profit from art classes and after school activities, called the Arts Horizons LeRoy Neiman Art Center.
Quotations:
"Eating is one of the great beauties in life. One of my favorite recreations... eating with friends, the service, the ambience."
"I always stayed in tune with my own ambitions and attitudes and I'm still my intractable old self, for better or worse."
"The most important thing is to just do it. If I work at a higher level I have responsibility to do better than what I've done before. Sometimes the best happens - beyond possibility. Just do it. Can't worry about it."
"It's not the act of arrogance to draw, it's humbling - you must use your God-given talent. And of all the people I sketch, in most cases I feel I have to measure up to the subject."
"There's no greatest moment in the arts. It's a life, it's a continuity thing. You can't have a great moment because it's spiritual. It's a belief, it's a calling. If you're an artist, doing your own thing on your own, it's while you're doing it that counts. It's a process. If you get too elated, you can get too depressed."
"My lovely wife Janet has been in a few paintings. She is basically a reserved woman who has never sought the limelight. She has always been there throughout my career and continues to be at my side."
"Boxing is my real passion. I can go to ballet, theatre, movies, or other sporting events...and nothing is like the fights to me. I'm excited by the visual beauty of it. A boxer can look so spectacular by doing a good job."
Membership
LeRoy was a member of Chicago Society of Artists.
Connections
LeRoy married Janet Byrne on June 22, 1957.
Father:
Charles Runquist
Mother:
Lydia (Serline) Runquist
Wife:
Janet Byrne
stepfather:
John L. Neiman
References
LeRoy Neiman: Art & Life Style
A superlative selection of Neiman's finest work, highlighted by the artist's notes on the people, places, and events he has painted from chic society beauties, superstars, and big business wheeler-dealers to Bowery rejects, pool-room hustlers and sidewalk hustlers.
1974
LeRoy Neiman: An American in Paris (Un Américain à Paris)
The volume includes a collection of paintings by a popular sports artist features his impressions of the French capital, depicting an array of monuments, museums, nightlife, parks, and grand boulevards, and includes sketches made from a table at Fouquet's.