In its long history, Playboy has been responsible for launching the careers of many talented people; but perhaps none has blossomed as much as LeRoy Neiman's. His first Playboy assignment was illustrating Charles Beaumont's story Black Country in September 1954. Auspiciously enough, it won Playboy its first art award, from the Chicago Art Directors' Club. Since then, Neiman has gone on to become one of the world's most famous contemporary artists, due not only to his association with Playboy but also to his television appearances as ABC's artist in residence for the 1972 and 1976 Olympic games. His on-the-sport mural for the Montreal games, for example, was seen by approximately 170,000,000 people in the United States. Also, few artists have sold as well in their own lifetimes as has Neiman. He has an enormous output in limited-edition serigraphs: Since 1971, he has produced 160 editions, or about 50,000 individual pieces. The revenue from their sale is estimated to be a staggering $75,000,000.
In 1955, Neiman created the Femlin, the free spirit who adorns our Party Jokes page. In 1958, he started his famous Man at His Leisure series and, for 14 years, brought Playboy readers visual dispatches from such front lines of glamor as Monte Carlo, Cannes and Ascot.
Neiman still moves in those circles, and it is not unusual to see him with Frank Sinatra, Muhammad Ali or Reggie Jackson. "People see me knocking about in exotic places with celebrities, but they don't realize that I usually hang out in my New York studio. I work all the time." Although his work is rooted in expressionism, Neiman has made painting and graphics accessible to everyone. The average person can read his paintings and understand them immediately as reportage of a very high order. Not only does America love his work; museums from the Hermitage in Leningrad to that at Wodham College in Oxford have exhibited it. In addition, Neiman has had 42 one-man shows and has won a slew of international awards. Playboy takes pride in having been a large part of the world of LeRoy Neiman.
