LeRoy Neiman at 100: A Selection of Drawings and Prints

The LeRoy Neiman and Janet Byrne Neiman Foundation and the LeRoy Neiman Center for Print Studies at Columbia University have announced an upcoming exhibition at The LeRoy Neiman Gallery in honor of the centenary year of American artist LeRoy Neiman (1921-2021). There are two upcoming exhibitions taking place this fall in New York at Poster House on September 2 and the LeRoy Neiman Gallery at Columbia University on September 7.

The exhibition — LeRoy Neiman at 100: A Selection of Drawings and Prints — will bring together works on paper from the Foundation and the Neiman Center that showcase the artist’s range of imagery as well as his extraordinary draftsmanship. The show will reopen the Neiman Gallery after a year’s closure, and kick off a series of guest-curated exhibitions to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the LeRoy Neiman Center for Print Studies, also occurring this year.

On view in LeRoy Neiman at 100 will be drawings that depict legendary sports figures Arthur Ashe, Wilt Chamberlain, and Serena and Venus Williams as well as jazz musician Wynton Marsalis, and acclaimed novelist James Baldwin, among others.

Games of the XXII Olympiad, 1980, courtesy of the Leroy Neiman and Janet Byrne Neiman Foundation
Thrilla in Manila, 1975, courtesy of the Leroy Neiman and Janet Byrne Neiman Foundation
Darrell Russell, 1998 (drawing on paper), courtesy of the Leroy Neiman and Janet Byrne Neiman Foundation

Neiman is best known for capturing the country’s favorite pastime activities in dynamic images of sporting events, concerts, and café scenes. He was incredibly prolific and worked in a variety of media including painting and printmaking, but he was most devoted to drawing. A sketchbook always in hand, Neiman made hundreds of drawings of cultural icons including Frank Sinatra and Muhammad Ali, both of whom he counted among his friends.

Throughout his career, he was a regular on the sidelines of every major boxing match and baseball, football or basketball game, faithfully sketching the dramatic movements of the athletes which he would later render more fully in colorful paintings and prints. While Neiman became synonymous with sporting imagery, he also made drawings chronicling the social and political zeitgeist of his time but they have been largely overshadowed by his more commercially viable work. Examples of these lesser-known yet captivating works will also be on view.

In addition to his art production, Neiman was a major philanthropist and the founder of the non-profit printshop and gallery, which bear his name at Columbia University’s School of the Arts.

About the LeRoy Neiman and Janet Byrne Neiman Foundation

The LeRoy Neiman and Janet Byrne Neiman Foundation seeks to perpetuate the legacy and philanthropic spirit of LeRoy Neiman, and to advance and share the impact of his life, his ideals and artwork in the U.S. and throughout the world. The Foundation supports organizations that promote the study, improvement, and advancement of the arts and provide opportunities for at-risk youth to develop paths to successful futures.

About the LeRoy Neiman Gallery

The LeRoy Neiman Gallery hosts a wide array of exhibitions throughout the year, showcasing the work of invited artists, Visual Arts faculty, undergraduate and graduate students and work produced in the LeRoy Neiman Center for Print Studies. The exhibits give student work public exposure in a professional setting and bring outside voices to the Neiman Center, creating a rich environment of display and dialogue.

About the LeRoy Neiman Center for Print’s Studies

The LeRoy Neiman Center for Print Studies is a not-for-profit print shop located in the School of the Arts at Columbia University. The mission is to provide students, as well as invited artists, a rich environment in which to investigate and produce images through a myriad of printmaking techniques including intaglio, lithography, screenprint, relief, and digital imaging. Since its founding in 1996, the Neiman Center has collaborated with more than 60 artists and published close to 600 editions, many of which have been acquired by museums and private collectors around the world.

Featured Image: LeRoy Neiman on the set of Rocky IV, 1984

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Dr. Jerry Doby Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.