LEROY NEIMAN (American, 1921-2012)
Roulette II, 1970
Oil on masonite
48 x 60 inches (121.9 x 152.4 cm)
Signed and dated lower left: Leroy Neiman / '70

In 1975 Knoedler Publishing began producing limited-edition prints of LeRoy Neiman's paintings, thereby further popularizing him as the playboy-celebrity of the art world, whom the critic Robert Hughes dubbed "the second-most famous artist" in America, behind Andrew Wyeth and ahead of Andy Warhol (R. Hughes, "The Rise of Andy Warhol," The New York Review of Books, February 18, 1982). Knoedler's colorful description of Neiman's 1996 serigraph Roulette II applies equally well to the present work:

As collectors of LeRoy Neiman know, he has always been drawn to the subjects of sports, leisure and the ways the wealthy amuse themselves. In the casino, these themes come together like nowhere else. The artist has been a habitué of all the world's great gaming centers, from Las Vegas and Atlantic City to Monte Carlo and Baden-Baden. 

Like the roulette wheel itself, the featured [work] is dominated by red and black. Neiman has portrayed a European table with a diverse international crowd in elegant evening attire. The attention of all is riveted on the board, whose numbers hold the promise of easy earnings. The players strain to place their final bets before the croupier lets loose the ball. Some are enjoying a special night out. Some are coldly calculating, working hard at their play. The very rich are blasé in the hope of some amusement. The desperate hope against reason. And the bystanders simply observe, enthralled but perhaps too timid to risk parting with their own hard-earned cash.

Despite, or perhaps because of, his modest background, Neiman quickly adopted the lifestyle of the rich and famous whom he imaged in his vibrant, expressionistic paintings, whether roulette players, racecar drivers, movie stars, or professional athletes. Raised in St. Paul, Minnesota, Neiman studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and spent his early thirties as a fashion illustrator, notably for the Carson Pirie Department Store. It was here that he met the man who would launch his career, copywriter Hugh Hefner, who in 1954 invited Neiman to design for his fledging magazine, Playboy.

From 1958-73, Neiman depicted the life of pleasure for the Playboy series "Man at His Leisure," which took him on assignments around the world and inspired painting subjects for the rest of his career.

Of Neiman's "gaming paintings," Roulette II was painted in 1970 at the height of the artist's artistic talents, and showcases the widest diversity of characters, exemplifying his fascination with social class and human behavior in general. Thronging the periphery of the game table are "Femlins" in backless or low-cut dresses, a heavyset bejeweled socialite, a turbaned sheik, and tuxedoed "Our Guys." The active roulette participants, forming a circle with the dealer on the left, also represent a "democratic," albeit privileged group, including women and a black man. Neiman contrasts the betters, with their intense faces and diagonally thrusting arms, with the more casually positioned bystanders; all of the figures, however, whether smiling or scowling, reflect the anxious uncertainty of the moment before the roulette wheel is turned. The art historian Malcolm Lein elaborates, "[Neiman] is intrigued with people, with the humanness of the living situation, with the way people act and look, with their soft insides and their hard, phony exteriors. . . . His people are not caricatures, not gods, not heroes, but people - pure and simple - equipped with all the strengths and frailties inherent to the species" (M. Lein, LeRoy Neiman Retrospective Exhibition: Paintings, Drawings, Watercolors, Prints, 1949-1975, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1975, p. 20-1).

Roulette II bears an interesting provenance, fitting for its subject. Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder, the well-known sports commentator and flashy bookmaker, originally owned the painting, which hung prominently in his home in North Carolina for decades. Eventually, he would give it to a very close friend, the owner of his favorite Italian restaurant in Charlotte, where the painting was recently discovered affixed to the back wall.

Framed Dimensions 53 X 65 Inches