'''LeRoy Neiman''' (born June 8, 1921) is an American artist known for his brilliantly colored, semi-abstract paintings and screen prints of athletes, and sporting events. In addition to being an internationally renowned sports artist, Neiman has created many works from his experience on Safari including a series of animal portraits which are some of his most sought after pieces including "Portrait of the Lion," "Portrait of the Elephant," and "Portrait of the Tiger." Some of his other subjects include sailing, cuisine, golf, horses, celebrities and famous locations. He is one of the most successful contemporary illustrators.
Neiman was born in St. Paul, Minnesota and studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (where he also later taught), the University of Chicago, and the University of Illinois. In June 2006, Neiman celebrated his 85th birthday and he was still actively painting. He is regarded as the most popular sports artist in the world, followed only by younger artists Stephan Holland and Richard T. Slone. Neiman is estimated to be the highest earner of any living American artist; his works are distributed by Hammer Graphics and Knoedler Publishing Co of New York. Neiman and his wife Janet live in a 3 story duplex overlooking Central Park. One of the largest collections of Neiman's work in N. America can be found in Scottsdale, AZ at the showroom gallery of American Fine Art Editions, Inc.

His studio is in New York City, where he works in his chosen media of oil, enamel, serigraphy and etching.

An interesting trivia note: Neiman worked as an illustrator for department store Carson, Pirie, Scott & Co. in Chicago in the early 1950s. At the desk next to him was a copywriter named Hugh Hefner. After Hefner started Playboy magazine in 1953, Neiman's artwork was featured in several issues and to this day LeRoy continues to illustrate "Femlin" a Playboy bunny character that is featured every month in Playboy, usually on the 'Jokes' page. Neiman's success is largely considered to be a direct result of his friendship with Hefner.

External link

*The Official LeRoy Neiman Website

Biography courtesy of the brilliant Wikipedia!