Zebra Family 1978

LeRoy Neiman made this painting of a Zebra Family, we're not sure exactly when, but it’s a pretty wild ride of color and form. It's like he took the idea of zebras and then just ran with it, letting the paint do its own thing. The colors here aren’t your typical black and white; instead, we've got purples, blues, and greens crashing into each other. Neiman’s brushstrokes are super visible, almost like he wanted you to see how the sausage was made. Look at the way he renders the grass. It’s a flurry of strokes, each one adding to the sense of movement and energy. It is like the zebras are barely contained by their shapes, like they are about to explode out of the frame and take off running. You could compare this to some of Matisse’s looser paintings, where color and line start to have a life of their own. Neiman’s piece reminds us that art is as much about the process as it is about the subject, and sometimes, the best art is the stuff that surprises even the artist.