On a painting safari to the renowned park ranges of Kenya, LeRoy Neiman executed dozens of paintings and drawings of African wildlife, many of which are featured in his recently released book,
LeRoy Neiman On Safari. Taken from one of the most beautiful paintings in the book,
'Portrait of the Leopard' is presented as a welcome new addition to Neiman's fabulously successful series of African animal prints.
Ancients proclaimed leopards to be animals of the moon, while lions were animals of the sun. LeRoy Neiman calls leopards strictly upper class, the most elegant of the larger felines. Graceful nocturnal stalkers, the great spotted cats are just as imperial as lions in bearing, but solitary rather than social. Calculating, patient and persistent, they spend much of their time up in trees, blending in with leaves and shadows.
This serigraph is an intimate portrait of the leopard in its favored setting. As in the wild, the viewer must take care not to lose sight of the well-camouflaged predator. Green eyes, attentive and intelligent, peer out from behind spots and flora of gold, orange, red and lilac. The colors are offset by snowy whites and long, luxurious whiskers.
Proud and noble, 'Portrait of the Leopard' will be a treasured member of every collector's menagerie of Neiman animal works.
