Famed Artist LeRoy Neiman Dies
By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Jun 21, 2012 3:00PM
LeRoy Neiman, whose artwork utilized bold colors to capture the energy and atmosphere of most of the world's largest sporting events, died Wednesday at the age of 91. Mr. Neiman's publicist Gail Parenteau would not disclose the cause of death.
Born in St. Paul, Minn., Mr. Neiman attended the Art Institute of Chicago on the GI Bill after World War II and was doing freelance fashion illustration for Carson Pirie Scott department store when he caught the eye of Hugh Hefner, who had just launched Playboy magazine. Hefner and Playboy art director Art Paul commissioned Mr. Neiman to do a painting for the magazine's fifth edition, beginning a long association with the magazine. Mr. Neiman created the "Femlin" mascot for Playboy's "Party Jokes" feature and wrote a column called "Man of His Leisure" where he would travel to exotic locations and share his adventures via his artwork.
Mr. Neiman was the official artist for five Olympiads, was the computer artist for CBS' coverage of the Super Bowl, and turned his eye and his painter's brush to every major sporting event across the globe. His used household enamel paints for his artwork, allowing him to use quick brushstrokes, and he eschewed being called an expressionist painter. In a 2008 interview with the Associated Press Mr. Neiman said he was simply "an American artist.
Critics often derided Mr. Neiman for doing commercial artwork too often, but he said “I can easily ignore my detractors and feel the people who respond favorably." Mr. Neiman also worked to foster art activities for underprivileged children. He helped establish the LeRoy Neiman Center for Youth in San Francisco and the Arts Horizons LeRoy Neiman Art Center in Harlem; established the LeRoy Neiman Center for Print Studies at Columbia University in New York and scholarships at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Last year Mr. Neiman and his wife donated $5 million to the Art Institute of Chicago to help build a new student center.