Note on Art
Dublin Core
Title
Note on Art
Subject
A note from LeRoy Neiman on his artistic process.
Description
This note from LeRoy Neiman looks the evolution of the artist’s process. The document is divided into three sections. First, one in which Neiman compares himself to a machine, and his work to automation. Second, a brief musing on “style”. And third, a remarking on critical reception, in which the compares falling out of fashion to obsolescence. The note is one of the few, if only, that draws comparison between mechanization/automation and his work more generally.
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
Jpeg/image
Language
English
Type
Document
Identifier
LN_Notes_1002_01; LN_Notes_1002_02
Coverage
New York (N.Y.) New York
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
After laboring over drawing, anatomy, form, likeness, practitioners, (reflecting) erasing, blending, emphasizing, obscuring, etc. The figure in space etc[.] While still a student[,] things changed to a new way of looking, seeing.
New ways of creating a picture
Now a half-century later, there have been dozens of (NEW) ways, (each) outdating the previous ones.
My mind goes back to (when I was a kid) 1930’s/40’s which the working man was constantly being replaced by the machine. (I could [?] produce times over)
It was not just that they lost their jobs to new [?] of getting the job done (the machine) as well as and even better.
There men hand apprenticed to little to learn their trade Many hours (years) on the job made them proficient, irreplaceable and proud of their skills. The machine that replaced their need JOBS were faster, even more efficient. These men (each having the output of many) were made insecure
The years they gave (devoted) to perfecting their trade were rendered useless. Once dismissed they
(The teaching of Hans Hoffman – Milton Avery old [survey]) /
Like knowing the scene of your selection is pretty much the same old thug, duel captured in the 19th century not dependent in contemporary gesture are [?] if is the way you depict it. In your style. Only your way. Then it is [?] and not possibly any other time or any other artist.
(Be an original is known you are original) /
Couldn’t apply elsewhere to [apply] their trade (skills)
Out of work[,] no place to go.
Outdated, unwanted, nothing to offer. Outmoded. They were nobody’s. (HONEST HARDWORKING SKILLED PROFESSIONALS)
(You’re nobody unless somebody loves you[,] no longer needed)
The artist could harbor such a feeling but his efforts are a matter of visual record What been created is one record. A matter of record.
I have been witness to one new movement after another over the last half of the 20th century.
Unable and unwilling to abandon my style? because also found myself unable to grasp these new directions[,] which I actually liked but couldn’t embrace. Or so I would absorb this newness into my existing way.
The result I kept at my direction[,] absorbed of the new as I saw possible to fit but as I stubbornly held to my in ways I found myself getting rare.
Sniffed by the critics for lagging back as a sizable audience developed would who felt a need for what I was continuing
New ways of creating a picture
Now a half-century later, there have been dozens of (NEW) ways, (each) outdating the previous ones.
My mind goes back to (when I was a kid) 1930’s/40’s which the working man was constantly being replaced by the machine. (I could [?] produce times over)
It was not just that they lost their jobs to new [?] of getting the job done (the machine) as well as and even better.
There men hand apprenticed to little to learn their trade Many hours (years) on the job made them proficient, irreplaceable and proud of their skills. The machine that replaced their need JOBS were faster, even more efficient. These men (each having the output of many) were made insecure
The years they gave (devoted) to perfecting their trade were rendered useless. Once dismissed they
(The teaching of Hans Hoffman – Milton Avery old [survey]) /
Like knowing the scene of your selection is pretty much the same old thug, duel captured in the 19th century not dependent in contemporary gesture are [?] if is the way you depict it. In your style. Only your way. Then it is [?] and not possibly any other time or any other artist.
(Be an original is known you are original) /
Couldn’t apply elsewhere to [apply] their trade (skills)
Out of work[,] no place to go.
Outdated, unwanted, nothing to offer. Outmoded. They were nobody’s. (HONEST HARDWORKING SKILLED PROFESSIONALS)
(You’re nobody unless somebody loves you[,] no longer needed)
The artist could harbor such a feeling but his efforts are a matter of visual record What been created is one record. A matter of record.
I have been witness to one new movement after another over the last half of the 20th century.
Unable and unwilling to abandon my style? because also found myself unable to grasp these new directions[,] which I actually liked but couldn’t embrace. Or so I would absorb this newness into my existing way.
The result I kept at my direction[,] absorbed of the new as I saw possible to fit but as I stubbornly held to my in ways I found myself getting rare.
Sniffed by the critics for lagging back as a sizable audience developed would who felt a need for what I was continuing
Original Format
Pencil and permanent marker on paper.
Files
Collection
Citation
LeRoy Neiman, “Note on Art,” LeRoy Neiman Foundation, accessed April 25, 2024, https://leroyneimanfoundation.omeka.net/items/show/84.