LEROY NEIMAN

October-November 2019 / New York

Franklin Bowles Galleries is pleased to present our fall exhibition of LeRoy Neiman’s work which debuted last month at The Bridge, a prestigious, invitation-only art show on the grounds of Bridgehampton’s private golf course.

Franklin Bowles Galleries, in partnership with the LeRoy Neiman and Janet Byrne Neiman Foundation, hosted the exhibition in the main clubhouse over the course of three days during what has been dubbed “the Hamptons’ most exclusive lawn party.” The show consisted of original works from all periods of Neiman’s illustrious career.

The exhibition included one of Neiman’s earliest studies of the Femlin for Playboy magazine. The piece is owned by the artist Richard Prince, who posted these comments shortly after LeRoy’s death in 2012:

“I always thought if Hollywood were to cast an artist for a movie they couldn’t of gone wrong casting LeRoy….The guy had style. Not only in the way he presented himself but, if and when you look up “painting style” in the dictionary, LeRoy Neiman’s name is part of the definition….Neiman’s paintings were a concoction from a fanciful dandy. A head-on collision of abstract expressionism and Monet’s water lilies. They were done quickly, in a day, sometimes done on camera, right in front of a television audience that would burst into applause after he “flourished” his name and signature on the bottom right of the painting. Yes, Neiman was a showman. A master of ceremonies. Step right this way. His paintings? To me? It’s simple…they’re naked and they dance.”