Note on Art

Dublin Core

Title

Note on Art

Subject

A note from LeRoy Neiman relating subject matter depicted to the study of sociology.

Description

This note from LeRoy Neiman looks at his work in relation to sociology, specifically positioning the subject matter depicted as an exploration of class. Although this note is not singular in expressing this opinion, it is one of the only which explicitly connects this interest to personal biography. Neiman grew up in a midwestern working class household during the Great Depression. In addition to this discussion of personal interest, the artist extrapolates his sentiments, asserting that since the advent of modern capitalism, the “elite are at all times the elite… intramural or internationally.” As homogenizing as this comment might seem, it reiterates the artist’s interest in sociology.

Creator

LeRoy Neiman

Source

LeRoy Neiman Foundation

Publisher

LeRoy Neiman Foundation

Date

c. 1990-2011

Contributor

LeRoy Neiman

Rights

Property of the LeRoy Neiman Foundation; please consult the organization's archivist for further details.

Relation

Notes

Format

Image/jpeg

Language

English

Type

Document

Identifier

LN_Notes_2005

Coverage

New York (N.Y.) New York

Text Item Type Metadata

Text

VENICE – AMSTERDAM
(A)
My paintings are in some small way a study of elites (and the poor). Being in (a) way a sociological authority NOT by education but simply that of an observer of human behavior. A product of the lower classes I feel confident of understanding my lower class background and a beneficiary of many adventures and misadventures mingling curiously among the (privileged) selection and (the) have nots.
I have studied (thru observing and) thru the medium of drawing and painting relationships between the haves and the have-nots thru personal (socializing) and fraternizing while both wile seriously at paly. A dominant element (ever necessary to both).
PLAY (in the dominants) subject matter of my work. The Dutch society bears comparison to the Venetian society as do the Asian and Western societies do today.
You cannot mature and be a part of the US today without comparing it (to) other cultures which either copy Western ways or despise them. But while the elite are at all times the elite when they play their games intermural or internationally.
([?] Jews) great wealth. Supplied the means which (necessary) food, play, munitions, with international connections
(the have and the have mores a quantity)

Original Format

Pencil with permanent marker on paper.

Files

LN_Notes_2005.jpg

Citation

LeRoy Neiman, “Note on Art,” LeRoy Neiman Foundation, accessed April 19, 2024, https://leroyneimanfoundation.omeka.net/items/show/181.