Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Pawn Stars Curse? LeRoy Neiman Dies 2 Days After Painting Shown

Is this the beginning of a Pawn stars curse?  Less than 2 days after a LeRoy Neiman print was on the show, Neiman passed away.  http://lasvegasbadger.blogspot.com/2012/06/pawn-stars-reviw-june-18-2012.html
From the L.A. Times: LeRoy Neiman, the American artist who became famous for his colorful portrayal of athletes and who was a regular artistic presence at major sporting events, including the Olympics and the Super Bowl, has died in New York at 91, according to the Associated Press. The cause of death was not disclosed.
Neiman's artistry reached millions of people through his work creating live drawings of the Olympics for television and as an artist of the Super Bowl on CBS.
A kind of Norman Rockwell of the sporting world, Neiman created accessible works of art that depicted sports and other leisure activities in a highly colorful style that blended elements of realism and Impressionism.
Neiman's art career got started through an unlikely connection -- Hugh Hefner, the Playboy mogul, who saw the young artist's work and was impressed. Neiman started creating art for the publication in the 1950s in Chicago.
After a stint in Paris, Neiman set up shop in New York, where he began exhibiting his work in galleries. He eventually gravitated toward sporting events in his paintings and prints. While he focused on the major American sports, like baseball and basketball, he also gained fame in a 1972 television broadcast for sketching chess players Boris Spassky and Bobby Fischer playing against each other in Iceland.
Neiman served as an artist for five Olympic Games, starting in 1972 in Munich and ending in 1984 in Los Angeles. He would appear on television and create on-the-spot sketches of Olympic sporting events in a variety of media including watercolor, charcoal and ink.
He also created art for Super Bowl broadcasts, depicting athletes on the field for football's biggest annual game.
Outside sports, Neiman painted musicians, including Frank Sinatra, as well as cityscapes.
 http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-leroy-neiman-artist-dies-olympics-20120620,0,2950830.story
 While Corey and the seller on Monday's Pawn Stars were dealing, Corey mentioned about Neiman and how much more valuable the print would be when he died because he is 91 years old.   Guess we will see.
I enjoyed watching Neiman paint when he covered the Olympics and Howard Cosell and also watching paint on other shows.  I'm no art lover, but Neiman painted quite well.

No comments:

Post a Comment