Russian Dancers 1961

LeRoy Neiman created this exuberant oil on board painting of Russian Dancers. The piece epitomizes Neiman's signature style: gestural, bold and seemingly spontaneous, but this apparent casualness obscures a more calculated project. Neiman aimed to democratize the world of high art by depicting popular subjects. Made in 1961, during the height of the Cold War, the painting’s cultural references are particularly interesting. On one hand, it exoticizes Russian culture for a western audience, on the other hand, it presents this culture as glamorous, energetic, and perhaps even aspirational. Russia and the United States were engaged in a battle for ideological supremacy at this time, but Neiman focuses on the spectacle of Russian ballet, which he renders in dynamic bursts of bright pigment. The ballet, like the art world, was also highly institutionalized at this time. Understanding art requires historical digging and contextualization, through publications, archives, and other documentary resources. The meaning of art always depends on the social circumstances of its making.