All Told: My Art and Life Among Athletes, Playboys, Bunnies, and Provocateurs [Hardcover]

LeRoy Neiman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 5, 2012

The memoir of one of the most recognizable contemporary artists in the world, a book filled with the biggest celebrities in twentieth-century sport, art, sexy dames, music, film, and more, by LeRoy Neiman, who was a principle contributor to Playboy for years, who covered the Playboy beat “Man at His Leisure,” who was chronicler and confidant of Muhammad Ali (and artist to all of sports!), and who was hailed as the man who “defined a century in vibrating color.”

Editorial Reviews

Review

“What intrigued me about LeRoy from the very beginning was that his work was rooted in fine art.  He was teaching at the Art Institute when nobody else was blurring the lines between fine art and commercial art like he was. He’s always had that distinctive LeRoy style, one that I knew from day one would define the unique nature of Playboy. Trust has been the key to our relationship, and he’s the only artist I’ve worked with for more than fifty years. He’s a tremendous talent and a tremendous human being.”  

          —Hugh Hefner

 

“It was not unusual for me to look up from a workout or a sparring session to see LeRoy perched on a chair, off to the side, studying my movements while sketching in quick strokes. With his bold colors and distinctive artistic style, LeRoy’s art and sketches captured my attention and imagination. He made me look as colorful and pretty on paper as I was in person—now that’s talent!”

          —Muhammad Ali

 

“LeRoy Neiman’s love of jazz is real.  His series of stunning poster art, depicting Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Gerry Mulligan, Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, and Billie Holiday contributed immensely to the success that is The Newport Jazz Festival. LeRoy donated this work to us in the years between 1964 and 2004.  He would accept no compensation, which we couldn’t have afforded any way. His work and his story, All Told, are priceless.”

          —George Wein, jazz impresario, founder of The Newport Jazz Festival

 

“Pop culture’s court painter, LeRoy Neiman, turns 91, an occasion he’ll celebrate by publishing an often amusing autobiography…”

           —The New York Times Style magazine

From the Inside Flap

LeRoy Neiman—arguably the world’s most recognizable contemporary artist—broke the barrier between fine art and popular art during a career in which he created indelible images that helped define the twentieth century. But it is the life he’s lived and the people he’s known that make the memoir of this scrappy Depression-era kid who became a swashbuckling bon vivant with the famous mustache such a marvelous historical canvas.

Chronicler and confidant of Muhammad Ali, Neiman also traveled with Sinatra, cavorted with Dalí and Warhol, watched afternoon soaps with Dizzy Gillespie, played in Sly Stallone’s Rocky movies, exchanged quips with Nixon, smoked cigars with Castro, and experienced the September 5, 1972,
terrorist attacks at the Munich Olympics alongside Peter Jennings,  Howard Cosell, and Jim McKay. And then there’s his half-century relationship with Hugh Hefner as principle artistic contributor to Playboy since its founding, setting up studios in London and Paris to cover his Playboy beat, “Man at His Leisure,” and his creation of the Femlin, the iconic Playboy nymphette. And, still, there’s so much more . . .

With his life’s work, and now in All Told, LeRoy Neiman has captured sports heroes, movie stars, presidents, dishwashers, jet-setters, jockeys, and more than a few Bunnies at the Playboy Mansion—a panoramic record of society like no other.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Lyons Press; First Edition edition (June 5, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0762778377
• ISBN-13: 978-0762778379
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.7 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #799,369 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great artist and great story teller June 11, 2012

By FCEtier VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

On the morning of December 7, 1963, twenty-two years after Pearl Harbor and exactly two weeks after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, LeRoy Neiman got into a limousine along with Shel Silverstein and Hugh Hefner. Their destination? The Cook County Courthouse, to face obscenity charges.

Elsewhere, the nation still reeled over the death of a President.

In Chicago, the legal system would express its concerns over what individual citizens do at home alone in the dark. It was The City of Chicago vs. Playboy, and Neiman was right there in the middle of it all. It was to become his first courtroom sketches drawn from life. According to Neiman, "The jury returned with their verdict: hung jury. No pun intended."

LeRoy Neiman's autobiography, All Told, is filled with similar stories from numerous and amazingly diverse settings. Readers will be surprised and pleased that this great artist is also a great story teller. From the ridiculous to the sublime, sincere to sensuous, this aficionado of the finer things of life tells his stories in a friendly conversational voice. Some of the best stories involve his encounters with provocateurs and raconteurs including both the rich and famous and those who were neither.

Any artist depends on contacts and exposure to propel his or her career (he was knighted in 1957). Networking and referrals are the lifeblood. Neiman had two of the best contacts an artist could hope to have: Hugh Hefner and Roone Arledge. Neiman's work provided one of the (many) reasons for millions to say that they purchased Playboy for something other than the nude pictorials. ABC Sports put his work on display to 80 million people.... Neiman's sketching in venues where cameras either failed or were not allowed (think Bobby Fischer) helped expand his audience.

In every situation, Neiman delivered the goods. He turned sports into an art form. His work is appreciated and lauded by scholars and lay people, the wealthy and those not so. Neiman's work graces the walls of famous museums, galleries, and collectors along with the dens of blue collar sports fans. And, of course, wherever you discover a copy of Playboy magazine, you'll find Neiman's work depicting man at play and Femlins being mischievous.

All Told includes a thorough sampling of Neiman's work. With sketches, prints, and posters, there are almost as many images as there are stories. It hits the streets on June 8, 2012, the ninety-first birthday of the author/artist. It is available in both hardcopy and e-book. We enthusiastically recommend it for your collection. Read more ›

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars a well written memoir~~ THANK YOU AND R.I.P., LEROY NEIMAN !!! June 21, 2012

By Matthew G. Sherwin HALL OF FAMETOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

LeRoy Neiman's memoir, released so shortly before his passing only yesterday, shows us that this was a man who lived life to the fullest especially through his passion for art; he gave so much to us through his outstanding artwork. Just as other reviewers note, Neiman knew so many people and a number of them helped advance his career. On a personal note, I remember being given a Neiman print many years ago from a good friend of mine; it is of a baseball player at bat and every time I look at it the vivid colors still impress me. Neiman was one of few artists who could truly capture the action and tension of a moment in sports using color and thoughtful drawing.

Equally important, LeRoy Neiman writes well; this is an absorbing memoir that captured my attention and held it until the very last page. I couldn't put it down! I was fascinated by Neiman's stories of his relationships, some of them quite useful for his career to advance, including Hugh Hefner; Roone Arledge; Andy Warhol; Muhammad Ali; Frank Sinatra and so many others. The photos and the artwork in this book are excellent, too. I could really see how Neiman fused both fine art and popular art to make stunning works of art that were uniquely his own.

"Describing Neiman as `first and foremost a colorist,' Malcolm Lein wrote, `His tones are vivid, jarring, and at times, gaudily biting; they explode in an effusion of reds, blues, pinks, greens, and yellows; they shimmer and dance across the surface plane, electrified bits of pure energy. ` `Extremely important in my painting is the use of the same color for both positive and negative purposes. . . ,' Neiman explained in a letter to American Artist that appeared in an article by William Caxton Jr. in the April 1961 issue.... `This is accomplished by deliberate selection of the adjacent colors, possibly a complement or an opaque if [the first color] is transparent, which permits the same [color] to be flat, fall back, or stand out, highlight, outline, and describe whatever is emotionally necessary for its intended function in the picture.' Neiman identified as the `prime objective' of his work the `phenomenon of change.' `The spectator looking at a painting of mine must deal with this condition of change. Areas are broken up at close range and fit together only at a distance... As one advances on my painting, it becomes more abstract, more fluid, and as one moves away, it falls into focus and is realistic... At no two distances will the painting appear the same. This gives the spectator more room for conjecture, and his contribution to the visual image, upon contemplation, adds to its provocative possibilities. These plastic qualities of my painting coincide with the realities of contemporary society and its rapidly moving, shifting, and ever-changing panorama. Today's man accepts many casual observations, and oft-times the real truths escape him if he doesn't take the time to look beneath the surface."

In sum, this is a beautifully written memoir that showcases the life and times of one of our very best artists, LeRoy Neiman. He may be gone now; but we have his artwork forever and that's a blessing. Thank you and rest in peace, LeRoy Neiman! Read more ›

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Some additional information from the Press Agent June 3, 2012

By Gail Parenteau

Format:Hardcover

NEW LEROY NEIMAN AUTOBIOGRAPHY CELEBRATES THE ARTIST WHO DEFINED A CENTURY IN VIBRATING COLOR

With hundreds of photos and color illustrations, a memoir filled with the biggest celebrities in

twentieth-century sport, art, sex, theater, music, film, and beyond

Lyons Press, an imprint of Globe Pequot Press, is proud to announce the release of All Told: My Art and Life Among Athletes, Playboys, Bunnies, and Provocateurs, by LeRoy Neiman, in conjunction with Mr. Neiman's 91st birthday on June 8, 2012.

Considered the world's most recognizable contemporary artist, LeRoy Neiman broke the barrier between fine art and popular art in the 1960s. His prints continue to bring in $10 million a year in sales. But it is the life he's lived and the people he's known that make the memoir of this swashbuckling bon vivant with the famous mustache such a marvelous historical canvas. His is the story of a scrappy Depression-era kid who had talent, insatiable curiosity, and a knack for wrangling himself into places he didn't belong. As a result, he hobnobbed with everyone who's anyone and created indelible images that helped define a century.

Neiman sat ringside with some of the most extraordinary figures of the twentieth century. Instructor and confidant to Muhammad Ali throughout his tumultuous career, Neiman also traveled with Sinatra, cavorted with Dali and Warhol, watched afternoon soaps with Dizzy Gillespie, played in Sly Stallone's Rocky movies, exchanged quips with Nixon, smoked cigars with Castro, and experienced the September 5, 1972, terrorist attacks at the Munich Olympics alongside Peter Jennings, Howard Cosell, and Jim McKay. And then there's his contribution to the culture-shifting influence of Playboy.... Neiman recalls his half-century relationship with Hugh Hefner--as principle artistic contributor to Playboy since its founding in 1954, setting up studios in London and Paris to cover his Playboy beat, "Man at His Leisure," and as creator of the Femlin, the iconic Playboy sex doll.

With his life's work, and now in All Told, LeRoy Neiman has captured sports heroes, movie stars, presidents, dishwashers, jet-setters, jockeys, and more--a panoramic record of society like no other.

LeRoy Neiman married fine art to popular art with his brilliantly colored, energetic depictions of sports, celebrities, America at play, life on safari, and famous locations. Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, he left high school in 1942 to join the U.S. Army, returning four years later to obtain his high school degree. He then studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (where, for a time, he taught), the University of Chicago, and the University of Illinois. Early in the 1950s he became a fashion illustrator for the department store of Carson, Pirie, Scott & Co., where he met Playboy founder Hugh Hefner in 1953. He lives in New York City, overlooking Central Park, where he keeps his studio, offices, archives and penthouse on separate floors. Read more ›