139 Illustrations
128 Plates in Full Color
Published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 1994
Join LeRoy Neiman for a visit to his Paris. Come
stroll the city's great boulevards, and visit its many majestic monuments;
sample its magnificent museums, its nightlife, and its parks; taste its
unsurpassed wine and food; and, above all, sit in its cafes. In An
American In Paris, you will see this city as never before - through
the eyes of one of America's most popular artists. A unique feature of
this lavishly scaled, oversized book is a 24-page section from a sketchbook
Neiman worked in while at a table at Fouquet's in 1991 and 1992. In it
we experience the full theatrical humor and excitement of spending time
at this "badge of café royalty, a regal wrapping around the
corner of the Champs-Elysées and the Avenue George-V." With
Neiman's lush, evocative art and witty commentary, Paris is depicted as
never before.
RICH PORTRAITS OF AN INCOMPARABLE CITY
Nietzsche once said, "As an artist a man has no home in Europe save in Paris." An early daguerreotype, "Paris Boulevard" by L. J. M. Daguerre himself offers a view of Paris down to the smallest detail. Toulouse-Lautrec, who was ostracized and became a habitue of Parisian night life, presented a cast of entertainers in cafes and music halls. Pissarro's view was of a crowded square; Renoir saw Paris on a Sunday afternoon in a popular dance hall; and then contemporary artist LeRoy Neiman gave us his City of Light in a gloriously colorful collection.
This folio-size visual feast holds 128 full-color illustrations, so boldly and broadly drawn that Paris springs to vibrant life. Initially seeing France some 60 years ago, Neiman was a GI with the American First Army during the Liberation of Paris. In the 60s he maintained a studio there and sketched prodigiously. Through the eyes of this contemporary Impressionist not only do we see the exultation of the Liberation and the ecstatic throngs that greeted the Americans, but we visit cafes, stroll boulevards, admire the city's haute couture, and meet some of the celebrities who live there or visit.
Few places have inspired the plethora of words, music and art that the citadel of the Seine has. "An American In Paris" is a rich portrait of that incomparable city for Francophiles and all admirers of Neiman's work.
