P.J. Clarke’s 1978

LeRoy Neiman made this painting of P.J. Clarke’s, well, without knowing the date, I’m going to guess, with oils. What grabs me is the way he goes at it, unafraid, laying down colors like he's building a mosaic of pure energy. The paint is thick in places, a kind of impasto that gives the scene a real, tangible presence. You can almost feel the buzz of the crowd, the clinking of glasses, just by looking at the texture on the canvas. Look at the way he’s rendered the faces in the crowd, those bright, impressionistic dabs of color, full of light and shadow. Each stroke feels like a snapshot, capturing a fleeting expression. The colors aren't blended, but sit next to each other, creating a vibrant, almost chaotic, energy. It reminds me a little bit of Joan Mitchell, not in style exactly, but in that willingness to embrace the messy, the unfinished. Neiman knew how to create a composition, a sense of place, without getting bogged down in the details. I’d say this piece embodies the fact that art is an ongoing conversation, a constant back-and-forth between artists, ideas, and different ways of seeing.