Lion Family 1974

LeRoy Neiman made this painting of a Lion Family, we don't know exactly when, but the way he fearlessly goes about it with these marks, I get a sense of his process. Look at the surface! It's alive with color. The paint isn't trying to hide anything, it's just doing its thing. The colours are wild, greens, yellows, blues, and reds, applied in such a way that the family of lions emerges from the chaos. See how Neiman uses these colors not just to describe but to build? It's a dance between observation and pure, joyful abstraction. Now, check out the way Neiman flicks his brushstrokes. They build the image, the faces of the Lions but they also break it apart into fields of pure colour. The painting reminds me of painters like Joan Mitchell, in the way that it celebrates the energy of painting. It suggests that art isn’t just about what you see, but about how you feel it.