Chicago Board of Trade 1980

LeRoy Neiman made this painting of the Chicago Board of Trade, and it’s just bursting with colors, like a firework display on canvas! The surface is alive with thick, juicy strokes of paint. It’s as if Neiman was wrestling with the canvas, trying to capture the frenetic energy of the trading floor. I’m drawn to how the blues and yellows clash and combine, creating this feeling of movement. Zoom in, and you can see the individual strokes, each a little decision, a little burst of energy. It reminds me that artmaking is a process of layering and adjusting, like a conversation with the materials. I see echoes of someone like Joan Mitchell, who also knew how to make paint sing and shout. Neiman shows us that art is not about perfection but about capturing a feeling, a moment, a chaotic, beautiful mess.