LeRoy Neiman
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LeRoy Neiman
LeRoy Neimanwas an American artist known for his brilliantly colored, expressionist paintings and screen prints of athletes, musicians, and sporting events...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPainter
Date of Birth8 June 1921
CitySaint Paul, MN
CountryUnited States of America
playboy throttle liberating
But 'Playboy' was liberating. I was drawn to it and went for it full throttle.
passion creating
I love the passion you go through while you're creating.
artist firsts businessman
The businessman says 'If I don't do it first, somebody else will.' The artist says 'If I don't do it first, nobody else will.'
compliments-you done care
I've got the public. I don't care about the critics. I did at one time. I don't any more. I did when I needed compliments. But if you get a lot of compliments, you don't need a critic to tell you, 'This should be done another way.'
long different roles
Throughout my life, cigars have played different roles for me. They fit easily and well in the various stages and experiences Ive had -- like a companion, almost. If youve smoked a long time, as I have, they become part of you.
dream art sleep
No, I never had any dreams. The process of art is a dream in itself. The artist just doesn't... you work out something. It's yours. You don't have to go to sleep to do that. You do that on the canvas.
eating my-favorite beauty-of-life
Eating is one of the great beauties in life. One of my favorite recreations... eating with friends, the service, the ambience.
attitude ambition self
I always stayed in tune with my own ambitions and attitudes and I'm still my intractable old self, for better or worse.
artist important theory
I guess I created LeRoy Neiman. Nobody else told me how to do it. Well, I'm a believer in the theory that the artist is as important as his work.
spiritual art calling
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.
painting selling difficult
It has been difficult to hold onto many paintings but I have retained a few...
responsibility worry important
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.
careers wife lovely
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.
stars feet band
It has been difficult to hold onto many paintings but I have retained a few. Possibly the current favorite is titled 'Big Band' completed in 2005. It measures 13 feet x 9 feet. It has 18 nearly life size recognizable portraits of the biggest jazz stars that I knew and saw perform in the 1950s, '60s, '70s, '80s and includes Wynton Marsalis.