Artist: LeRoy Neiman
Title: USSR Boxing Team (from The Munich Suite, 1972 Olympics)
Year created: 1972
Medium: Hand-Signed Limited Edition Serigraph on Paper
Signed by the artist
Edition: Artist's Proof (AP); Hand-Signed Limited Edition
Height (inches): 20
Width (inches): 23.5
This piece is framed.
Includes a certificate of authenticity.
Description of piece: This highly collectible early Neiman work celebrates and commemorates the Russian Boxing Team at the 1972 U.S. Summer Olympics held in Munich, Germany. Titled "USSR Boxing Team", it depicts the Gold Medal-winning team as they trained for the Games. A serigraph on paper, USSR Boxing Team is a rare Artist's Proof (AP) from the signed and numbered limited edition "Munich Suite, 1972". "AP" is written in pencil in the lower left margin of the work; the Artist has hand-signed the work, in pencil, in the lower right margin.
Two outstanding athletes— Boris Kuznetsov and Vyacheslav Lemeshev— took home the Gold for Russia at the Olympics that summer.
Boris Georgievich Kuznetsov (Борис Георгиевич Кузнецов) won the gold medal in the men's featherweight division (−57 kg), defeating Harouna Lago (Niger) KO 1; José Baptista (Venezuela) 3–2; Ryszard Tomczyk (Poland) 5–0; Gabriel Pometcu (Romania) 4–1; Andras Botos (Hungary) 5–0; and Philip Waruinge (Kenya) 3–2. Kuznetsov was the USSR Champion in 1972 and 1974. winning 237 fights out of 249 during his career. He became the Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR in 1972 and was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor.
Vyacheslav Ivanovich Lemeshev (Вячеслав Иванович Лемешев) won the gold medal in the middleweight division (–75 kg), knocking out four of his five opponents. He knocked out future World Light Heavyweight champion, American Marvin Johnson in two rounds in a semifinal, and then scored a 1st round knockout (Time 2:17) over Reima Virtanen of Finland to win the Gold, also defeating Wiem Gommies (Indonesia) KO 1; Hans-Joachim Brauske (East Germany) 5-0; and Nazif Turan (Turkey) TKO 2. During his career Lemeshev won 103 fights out of 111. He too was awarded to become the Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR in 1972 and was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor in the same year.
With an image size of 11" in height x 16" in width, this rare and iconic Neiman comes custom framed and ready for display in a custom wood black lacquered frame, with exquisite custom archival double mat of cream and dark blue, which perfectly accentuate and highlight the artwork. The framed size is 20” x 23.5”. The artwork is accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity.
Artist bio: Born and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota, LeRoy Neiman (June 8, 1921 - June 20, 2012) studied briefly in St. Paul before moving to Chicago to study at the School of Art Institute of Chicago where he then taught for 10 years before moving to New York City in 1962. Leroy Neiman is possibly the most popular painter and print maker in America, one of the few artists of the 20th century whose name has become a household word in millions of homes, nationally and internationally.
Best known for his brilliantly colored, stunningly energetic images of the world of sports, exclusive leisure activities, and the world of entertainment, LeRoy Neiman's art is unique; it stands alone, without any real comparison. It is an art which became controversial because Neiman broke the barriers of many of the most hallowed assumptions of modern art history and contemporary criticism. LeRoy Neiman's style explodes with the dramatic intensity of Abstract Expressionist brush strokes, strokes that pick out action that is strikingly accurate.
Since 1970 LeRoy Neiman published hundreds of limited edition serigraphs which have become as much sought after as the prints of Miro, Chagall and Picasso. Having exhibited worldwide, from Moscow to Tokyo to Caracas, honored with many awards for his art, and published many books, Neiman is an icon of contemporary art. His work is in the permanent collections of countless museums including the Whitney Museum in NYC, Baltimore Museum of Fine Art, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Museo de Bellas Artes in Caracas, the Hermitage in Leningrad, and the Art Institute of Chicago.
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