LeRoy Neiman Whores, Wars & Tin Pan Alley Ltd Poster Alvin Epstein Painting

Artist: LeRoy Neiman
Title: War's Whores and Tin Pan Alley Painting
Medium: Original Gouache Painting on Fine art Paper
Size: 16" x 10.5"
Framed: 28.75" x 21"
Signed: Signed by the Artist
Condition: Museum quality, no flaws
Provenance: Directly from Allen Swift's wife and includes letter of provenance
Framed: By our favorite family owned local faming company Callahan Framing

Allen Swift (aka Ira Stadlen) was a collector and admirer of Leroy Neiman's work. Allen was the producer of Whores, Wars, and Tin Pan Alley. In 1969 Allen approached Neiman to provide him with the art that would be printed on his marketing posters.

In a statement from Allen "We (my wife, Lenore Loveman and I) have felt that all three of LeRoy Neiman's sketches expressed perfectly the sensuality, irony, and decadence in Germany between two World Wars that Weill and Brecht so acutely captured in shows such as "The Threepenny Opera" and "Mahagonny". "Whores, Wars and Tin Pan Alley" featured music from those shows.

About the Show Whores, Wars, and Tin Pan Alley, "An evening of songs by Kurt Weill, "Theater the Bitter End; transferred to the Sheridan Square Playhouse on July 3rd 1969. Opening Date was June 16th 1969. Cast Martha Schlamme and Alvin Epstein.

Provenance: This piece came directly from Allen Swift's family. Neiman created three paintings to choose from for his marketing posters. He gave one of the paintings to his daughter in which I acquired and since been sold. At the time I tried to buy the other two, however Allen was not willing to give them up. In bad health Allen wrote a letter of provenance dated March 11th 2010 to myself in the case his family would like to sell the rest of the works created including the posters for the marketing of the show. Sadly, Allen passed on April 18th 2010. Recently Allen's family reached out to me once again and decided it was time. This was one of three paintings LeRoy competed for Allen's production Whore's, Wars, and Tin Pan Alley.

About Leroy Neiman

Leroy Neiman is considered the most famous American leisure artist of all time. His unique and easily identifiable technique coupled with his easy to relate to subject matter has made him a success with both art critics and art collectors. Born and raised in Minnesota, Leroy Neiman developed an affinity for art at an early age. He put his art career on hold to serve in World War II but immediately picked up where he left off upon his return when he enrolled at the Art Institute of Chicago. After graduation, he spent 10 years teaching for the same program.

While in Chicago, he met and befriended Hugh Heffner and began his career as a regular illustrator for Heffner’s Playboy magazine in 1956. His art would appear in the Party Jokes section and his famous Femlin character gained him public attention for his art for the first time. He would also use Playboy as a vehicle to showcase his travels and adventures as his career continues to progress. His career with playboy would last for over 50 years.

Neiman’s career really began taking off in 1960. He traveled the world to paint scenery and capture sporting events. Leroy Neiman is considered by many to be the most famous sports artist of all time. During his career, he would famously capture Formula One races, the Ryder Cup and Masters Golf Tournaments, Boxing events, the Kentucky Derby, Wimbledon, the World Cup, the Olympics, and many others. These images became associated with the events they were painted for and further elevated the artist’s fame. During the same time, Neiman also captured street scenes and global landmarks while traveling. His Arc de Triompheand Brooklyn Bridge are some of his most iconic.

The subject of Neiman paintings expanded to include scenery, figure paintings, animals and celebrities. He also painted a number of leisure scenes which remain some of his most famous today. He had a special love of painting jazz musicians, night life, and casino scenes. Leroy Neiman is also famous for his flamboyant personality. His ability paint himself as a unique and eccentric personality has been polarizing, but has also worked well to market the artist. His personality has without question propelled his celebrity status to a higher level and in doing brought his art along with it. During his career, he was friends with many celebrities. He passed away at the age of 91 on June 20, 2012 in New York City. His art remains extremely popular.

The artwork of Leroy Neiman is iconic for many reasons. The artist’s one of a kind technique and semi-abstracted style has branded his work as unique to the artist. His use of brushstrokes and vibrant color is able to capture movement and emphasize the qualities of the sports and leisure activities he captured in his art. His subject matter is also easy to relate to and has propelled its popularity among art collectors. All of this combined with Neiman’s outgoing and flamboyant personality created a very successful and popular modern artist who’s art will live on well beyond the artist’s years.