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

Travis Vogan

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LeRoy Neiman

The Life of America’s Most Beloved and Belittled Artist

Travis Vogan
Travis Vogan

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Language: English

Published/Copyright: 2024

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About this book

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.
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Author / Editor information

Travis Vogan is professor of journalism, mass communication, and American studies at the University of Iowa. He is the author of numerous books on sports, media, and culture, most recently The Boxing Film: A Cultural and Transmedia History.

Reviews

“LeRoy Neiman wanted to be taken seriously as an artist, and it troubled him that he never really was. With this well-researched, insightful, and clear-eyed biography, Travis Vogan has righted that wrong. This isn’t the adulatory book Neiman would have commissioned during his life, but anyone who takes art seriously—as he did—understands that there’s no greater sign of respect than to reveal one’s subject for what it is. That’s just what Vogan has done for Neiman and his work in these pages.”

— Colin Asher, author of 'Never a Lovely So Real: The Life and Work of Nelson Algren'

“Neiman and I were very good friends for forty years, and year after year, we covered most of the biggest sporting events together. I always took pictures of LeRoy at these events, and he’d always do a drawing of me in return. He could be very generous to his friends. I treasure my collection of those drawings. This terrific book perfectly captures the Neiman I knew.”

— Neil Leifer, photojournalist

"Fascinating."

— Artnet News

"A new take on Neiman’s status and achievements."

— The Art Newspaper

“Vogan does a masterful job bringing both Neiman and his times to vibrant life, never sparing in his critique but appropriately sympathetic to a self-made man who produced high-gloss schlock. . . . His best memorial is this book, which so persuasively and elegantly places him in the center of late-20th-century American popular culture.”

— AirMail

“An up-from-nowhere tale of pluck, talent, and art-establishment disdain.”

— Wall Street Journal

"This cigar-smoking artist is more than the opinions of his work—his life reflects a wild ride through 20th century American history. The newest biography from Travis Vogan offers a glimpse into this wholly American life."

— Cigar Aficionado

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	viii
Illustrations Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
INTRODUCTION Pure Neimanism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	1
PART 1 Underdog
1 LeRoy Runquist Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	13
2 Street Artist Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	38
3 A Roguish Role Model Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	59
4 Midwestern Bohemian Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	69
5 A Reporter Type of Painter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	92
PART 2 Celebrity
6 Hefner’s Court Painter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	109
7 Playboy’s Norman Rockwell Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	135
8 The Sports Artist Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	159
9 At the Hotel des Artistes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	180
10 The Heavyweight Champion of Art Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	188
11 TV Artist in a Xerox Society Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	205
12 Middle America’s Michelangelo Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	229
PART 3 Outcast
13 Bringing Disease to the Hospital Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	259
14 The LeRoy Neiman of . . . Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	275
15 The Price and Cost of Legitimacy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	293
16 All Told Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	315
CONCLUSION Fame and Legacy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	330
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	339
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	343
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	375