Texas Longhorns 1985

LeRoy Neiman painted "Texas Longhorns" with big, bold strokes and a palette that pops. The painting itself seems to have come into being through a kind of ecstatic expression. I can imagine Neiman standing there, brush loaded with color, just letting it rip, trying to capture not just the look of the game, but the feel, the roar of the crowd, the adrenaline. He's not holding back; the paint is thick in places, almost sculptural, giving everything a real sense of energy. Look at how he renders the Longhorn itself - it's like a multicolored explosion, a symbol of brute force and Texas pride. Neiman's whole career was about capturing these moments of high energy and drama, much like Toulouse-Lautrec did with the Parisian nightlife. Both artists remind us that painting is a conversation across time, a way of embodying a feeling and sharing it with the world, embracing the messiness and ambiguity of it all.