Mixologist

Title

Mixologist

Description

From the serial- A Playboy Portfolio Decorative print of a bar. LeRoy Neiman (born Leroy Leslie Runquist, June 8, 1921 – June 20, 2012) was an American artist known for his brilliantly colored, expressionist paintings and screen prints of athletes, musicians, and sporting events. Neiman was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the son of Lydia Sophia (née Serline) of Braham, Minnesota and Charles Julius Runquist, who were married in 1918, and living at Grasston, Minnesota (Kanabec County) in 1921. He was of Swedish descent. His father deserted his family, and when his mother married his stepfather, John L. Niman (Neiman) in 1926, LeRoy changed to the new surname as well. His mother divorced Neiman about 1935, and married for the third time in about 1940, to Ernst G. Hoelscher, of St. Paul. She died in St. Paul, Minnesota, November 14, 1985, at age 87 years. LeRoy was raised in the Macalester-Groveland, and Frogtown neighborhoods of St. Paul. The home he lived in the longest, from about 1940 to about 1955, still stands at 569 Van Buren Avenue, in St. Paul.

ca. 1965

Artist

Neiman (1921-2012)

LeRoy Neiman (June 8, 1921 in Saint Paul, Minnesota as LeRoy Leslie Runquist - June 20, 2012 in New York) was an American painter who was best known for his expressive brightly colored sports pictures. LeRoy Leslie Runquist's Swedish father split from the family when he was little. LeRoy then took his stepfather's last name. After his military service, he enrolled at St. Paul School of Art and the School of The Art Institute of Chicago, and then worked as an art teacher. From 1954 he worked for Playboy, to which he remained connected until his death and where he was promoted by Art Paul and created the feminine figure for the joke page. From the 60s he specialized in sports pictures and achieved great prestige in this field, including being inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He was not very well regarded by art critics, but during his lifetime he was one of the most popular painters in the United States.