Santa Anita

Notes

LeRoy Neiman was an American artist renowned for his vibrant, highly stylised depictions of sport, jazz, nightlife and celebrity culture. He studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago before establishing a long and influential career as a painter, illustrator and printmaker.

Neiman became widely known through his association with Playboy magazine and for his dynamic visual coverage of major sporting and cultural events, including the Olympic Games, Kentucky Derby, Super Bowl and Formula One. He frequently worked on location, translating the energy and movement of live events into bold compositions characterised by vivid colour, expressive brushwork and strong graphic forms.

His subjects also included leading figures from the worlds of music and entertainment, particularly jazz, where his ability to capture movement, rhythm and atmosphere became a defining feature of his work.