LeRoy Neiman was an American artist known for his brilliantly colored expressionist paintings and screen prints of athletes, musicians and sporting events…..as he produced about six different serigraph subjects a year….which generally were priced from $3,000 to $6,000 each…..with gross annual sales of new serigraphs alone topped $10 million….whereas originals can sell for up to $500,000 for works such as Stretch Stampede….which is a mammoth 1975 oil painting of the Kentucky Derby. In addition to being a renowned sports artist….LeRoy has created many works from his experience on safari….including Portrait of a Black Panther, Portrait of the Elephant, Resting Lion and Resting Tiger. Some of his other subjects include sailing, cuisine, golf, boxing, horses, celebrities, famous locations, and America at play. Much of his work was done for Playboy magazine….for which he continued to illustrate monthly until his death.
LeRoy Neiman worked in oil, enamel, watercolor, pencil drawings, pastels, serigraphy and some lithographs and etching…..as Neiman was listed in Art Collector’s Almanac, Who’s Who in the East, Who’s Who in American Art, Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in the World…..and he was a member of the Chicago Society of Artists. His works have been displayed in museums, sold at auctions and displayed in galleries and online distributors. He is considered by many to be the first major sports artist in the world….who was challenged only in his later years by a new generation of artists like Stephen Holland and Richard T. Slone.
In Bone Daddy’s (the original Sportsphile) sports bar, The Sports Place, Madison Square Garden, at 302 E. 6th Street in Austin, Texas….there were multiple LeRoy Neiman serigraphs and prints framed and hanging on the walls.
