Lion Family 1974

LeRoy Neiman made this painting, Lion Family, with bright colours smeared and scrubbed onto the canvas. Can you imagine him in the studio, the brush flying across the surface? I feel a real kinship with Neiman’s intuitive process; it's like he’s trying to capture not just what the lions look like, but what it feels like to be in their presence. It's a playful interpretation that gives just enough information for the viewer to piece the image together. See how he uses that vivid yellow and orange to give the lion’s fur a kind of electric charge? It’s like he’s saying, “Here’s a starting point, now let your imagination run wild.” It reminds me of how all us artists are in conversation, borrowing and riffing off each other's ideas across time. Painting is an invitation to embrace ambiguity, allowing for multiple readings and possibilities.