LeRoy Neiman : The Life of America's Most Beloved and Belittled Artist.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Vogan, Travis.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Neiman, LeRoy, 1921-2012.

Neiman, LeRoy.

Artists--United States--Biography.

Artists.

Sports artists--United States--Biography.

Sports artists.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (407 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2024.

Summary:

The untold story of an American hustler who upset the art world and became a pop culture icon, cutting a swath across twentieth-century history and culture. LeRoy Neiman—the cigar-smoking and mustachioed artist famous for his Playboy illustrations, sports paintings, and brash interviews—stood among the twentieth century’s most famous, wealthy, and polarizing artists. His stylish renderings of musicians, athletes, and sporting events captivated fans but baffled critics, who accused Neiman of debasing art with popular culture. Neiman cashed in on the controversy, and his extraordinary popularity challenged the norms of what art should be, where it belongs, and who should have access to it. The story of a Depression-era ragamuffin–turned–army chef–turned–celebrity artist, Neiman’s biography is a rollicking ride through twentieth-century American history, punctuated by encounters with the likes of Muhammad Ali, Frank Sinatra, Joe Namath, and Andy Warhol. In the whirlwind of his life, Neiman himself once remarked that even he didn’t know who he really was—but, he said, the fame and money that came his way made it all worth it. In this first biography of the captivating and infamous man, Travis Vogan hunts for the real Neiman amid the America that made him. .

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Illustrations

INTRODUCTION Pure Neimanism

PART 1 Underdog

1 LeRoy Runquist

2 Street Artist

3 A Roguish Role Model

4 Midwestern Bohemian

5 A Reporter Type of Painter

PART 2 Celebrity

6 Hefner’s Court Painter

7 Playboy’s Norman Rockwell

8 The Sports Artist

9 At the Hotel des Artistes

10 The Heavyweight Champion of Art

11 TV Artist in a Xerox Society

12 Middle America’s Michelangelo

PART 3 Outcast

13 Bringing Disease to the Hospital

14 The LeRoy Neiman of . . .

15 The Price and Cost of Legitimacy

16 All Told

CONCLUSION Fame and Legacy

Acknowledgments

Notes

Index

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Other Format:

Print version: Vogan, Travis LeRoy Neiman

ISBN:

9780226820088

OCLC:

1453198496