LeRoy Neiman, born LeRoy Runquist, is best known for his vibrantly colored paintings and screen prints, which draw on Impressionism and Pop Art and frequently feature portraits of athletes and musicians as well as depictions of sporting events. He is renowned for creating art during live coverage of the Olympics and other major American and international sports competitions. He once commented, “I use (bold) color to emphasize the scent, the spirit, and the feeling of the thing I’ve experienced.”
Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Neiman showed an early aptitude for drawing. After returning home from WWII, he studied at the Saint Paul School of Art and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), where his classmates included Robert Indiana and Leon Golub. Upon graduation in 1950, he began teaching at SAIC.
In 1953, his oil painting Idle Boats won first prize at the Twin City Show, where the Minneapolis Art Institute purchased it. Neiman’s reputation quickly grew, and museums such as the Carnegie Pittsburgh International Exhibition of Contemporary Painting, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington purchased his works.
In 1954, Neiman’s famous association with Playboy magazine began to take shape. Hugh Hefner commissioned Neiman to create an illustration for this fledgling magazine, and his piece won the 1954 Chicago Art Directors Award. This led to a relationship with Playboy that lasted five decades and included Neiman writing and illustrating the “Man at His Leisure” section and the creation of the well-known “Femlin” — a female nymph wearing only opera gloves, stockings and high heels — which appeared on the “Party Jokes” page in every issue since 1955.
In 1970, the 5th Dimension commissioned Neiman to create a cover illustration for the pop group’s album Portrait. In 1994, he created the illustration used for the playbill and the immense Broadway mural for the musical Busker Alley. He was inducted as a Laureate of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois and awarded the highest honor of the state of Illinois, the Order of Lincoln, in 2009.
Today, you can find Neiman’s works in the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Indianapolis Museum of Art (Newfields), among others.
On 1stDibs, find LeRoy Neiman prints, drawings, paintings and more.
Olympic Jumper, American Impressionist Tapestry by LeRoy Neiman
By LeRoy Neiman
Located in Long Island City, NY
LeRoy Neiman, American (1921 - 2012) - Olympic Jumper, Year: 1989, Medium: Tapestry, signed and dated, Size: 84 x 60 in. (213.36 x 152.4 cm)
Tapestry
$1,000
Large illustrated Carnaval gift book in bespoke box (Hand Signed and Numbered)
By LeRoy Neiman
Located in New York, NY
LeRoy Neiman Carnaval gift book in bespoke box (Hand Signed and Numbered), 1981 Hardback Monograph with Vinyl Dust Jacket. Hand Signed by Artist on Colophon on Vellum parchment pape...
Ink, Mixed Media, Offset
Elephant Stampede Tapestry
By LeRoy Neiman
Located in Saint Petersburg, FL
Elephant Stampede Tapestry Published 1988 Image Area Dimensions 60" x 81" Hand Woven Silk Tapestry Edition Size 88 Gallery Retail $25,000. Tapestry 35 from the edition of only 88 pi...
Silk
Stony Brook
By Paul Bernard King
Located in Milford, NH
A fine impressionist woodland scene with a brook and birches by American artist Paul Bernard King (1867-1947). King was born in Buffalo, New York, and after becoming an established printer, went on to study at the NY Art Students League with Henry S. Mowbray. While a student, he became an illustrator for Life and Harper’s magazines, and went on to become well known for his portraits, landscapes, rural scenes, and illustrations. Oil on canvas, signed lower right, inscribed title on verso stretcher “Paul King, Stony Brook...
Canvas, Oil
$14,000
H 28 in W 34.5 in D 2 in
Golf Course, Probably The Country Club, Brookline MA
By Arthur Clifton Goodwin
Located in Milford, NH
A fine landscape of a golf course, probably The Country Club, Brookline, MA by American artist Arthur Clifton Goodwin (1864-1929). Born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Goodwin lived an...
Canvas, Oil
$12,000
H 27.5 in W 35.4 in
"Sitting Nude, Bea" 2016 oil painting of nude woman seated in thought, pink hues
By Ben Fenske
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
An oil painting of a nude female figure, sitting upon a bed; chest bent over knees, hand on head, seemingly bored. Hues of pink surround the figure due to decorative fabrics that are...
Oil, Linen
$400
H 12 in Dm 15 in
Santa Barbara Is Shining - Framed Original Colorful Authentic Environment Art
By Fabio Coruzzi
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Italian artist Fabio Coruzzi merges painting and photography into one imaginative image that offers a new outlook on an otherwise ordinary urban scene. His artworks represent an auth...
Oil Pastel, Ink, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Archival Paper, Graphite
Winter Landscape with Trees
By William Lester Stevens
Located in Milford, NH
A fine colorful New England winter landscape with trees and a snow covered stone wall by American artist William Lester Stevens (1888-1969).Born in Rockport, Massachusetts, Stevens f...
Canvas, Oil
Vermont Farm
By Paul Sample
Located in Milford, NH
A fine impressionist landscape of a Vermont farm by American artist Paul Starrett Sample (1896-1974). Sample was born in Louisville, Kentucky and went to school at Dartmouth College,...
Canvas, Acrylic
Coast of New Jersey Below Asbury Park
By Hayley Lever
Located in Milford, NH
A fine impressionist coastal painting of the New Jersey coast by Australian / American artist Heyley Lever (1876-1958). Lever was born in Adelaide, Australia, and studied at Adelaide's Prince Alfred College and attended James Ashton’s Academy of Art. He traveled and studied in England, eventually exhibiting at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.Lever moved to New York around 1910, painting scenes of the city. He summered in Gloucester, MA, where he painted and taught sketching and painting classes at his summer studio. He became well known for his post-impressionist marine and landscape paintings. Lever’s works hang in several museums/institutions, including: The White House, Yale University Art Gallery, Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts, Detroit Institute of Art, Colby College, and the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Oil on canvas, signed lower left, artist placard, title and date inscribed on verso “Coast of New Jersey below Asbury Park...
Canvas, Oil
$2,125
H 24 in W 36 in
Napoli - Original Landscape Colorful Authentic Italian Beach City Painting
By Fabio Coruzzi
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Italian artist Fabio Coruzzi merges painting and photography into one imaginative image that offers a new outlook on an otherwise ordinary urban scene. His artworks represent an auth...
Canvas, Oil Pastel, Ink, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Graphite
Farm in the Mist, Giverny
By Theodore Earl Butler
Located in Milford, NH
An exceptional impressionist landscape of a farm in the mist in Giverny, France by American artist Theodore Earl Butler (1891-1936). Butler was born in Co...
Canvas, Oil
An Unfrequented Harbor
Located in Milford, NH
A fine impressionist marine painting of a harbor on Cape Ann, Massachusetts by American artist Harry Aiken Vincent (1867-1933). Vincent was Born in...
Canvas, Oil
Still Life with Flowers in a Blue Vase
Located in Milford, NH
A large beautiful still life with flowers in a blue vase by American artist Owen Cullen Yates (1866-1945). Yates was born in Bryan, Ohio and studied in New York City with William Mer...
Canvas, Oil, Panel
Still Life with Flowers
By Arthur Woelfle
Located in Milford, NH
A fine impressionist still life with tulips and irises in a stoneware vase on a table by American artist Arthur Woelfle (1873-1936). Woelfle was born in Trenton, New Jersey, studied ...
Canvas, Oil
Harlequin
By LeRoy Neiman
Located in New York, NY
LeRoy Neiman Harlequin, 1974 Screenprint on bone china Signed in plate, LeRoy Neiman's Signature fired on the front and numbered 2696/15000 on the back. 10 1/4 in diameter Unframed ...
Ceramic, Porcelain, Screen