Olympic Pole Vaulting Moscow 1979

LeRoy Neiman made this image of Olympic Pole Vaulting in Moscow with paint, probably acrylic, I'm guessing. You can really see Neiman letting loose and attacking the canvas. I find the way the colors are applied—these big, flat, kind of juicy areas—so interesting. It's not about blending or finesse, but about catching the energy of the moment. Look at the crowd: just a riot of red and orange flicks, capturing the feeling of excitement without getting bogged down in details. Then there's the vaulter, suspended in mid-air. The brushstrokes around him are so active, as though the movement itself is being painted, not just the figure. Neiman reminds me a bit of someone like Joan Mitchell, in the sense that they both create these dynamic, abstract spaces that still manage to convey a sense of real-world experience. It's like they're tapping into the raw energy of life and translating it directly onto the canvas. This piece reminds us that painting is about capturing a feeling as much as an image.