Bidspirit auction | Leroy Neiman ”Wooden Horse Carousel”

Leroy Neiman ”Wooden Horse Carousel” Watercolor on Paper - Signed and dated by the artist in the lower right.  Full Title: Wooden Horse Carousel, Riverview Park, Chicago, 1955 Date: 1955 Provenance: Certificate of Authenticity from Franklin Bowles Galleries Original watercolor.    Image: 19” x 24 1/2”  Frame: 31” x 36”    Condition: Slight undulation to the paper in the upper left corner, otherwise, the painting is in good condition. Minor wear to the frame.    Artist Bio: LeRoy Neiman (1921–2012) studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago alongside Robert Indiana and Leon Golub, then taught there for about a decade. He met Hugh Hefner in 1954 and wrote and illustrated Playboy's ”Man at His Leisure” column from 1958 to 1973 — the vehicle that took him to the cafes, casinos, racetracks and arenas that became his subject — and served as official artist for five Olympic Games from 1972. His manner is a hot, saturated semi-Expressionism, slashing enamel-like strokes over a loose armature, drawn on site and amplified in the studio. Carousel and amusement subjects appear in his work from early on, well within the leisure territory he made his own.