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Lot 10
LeRoy Neiman(American, 1921-2012)John Riggins, New York Jets 24 x 17in
4 December 2013, 14:00 EST
New YorkUS$50,000 - US$70,000
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LeRoy Neiman (American, 1921-2012)
John Riggins, New York Jets
signed 'LeRoy Neiman' (lower left) and signed again, dated and inscribed 'Newsweek / 12-4-72 / Riggins / N.Y. Jets / LeRoy Neiman / '72' (on the reverse)
acrylic on Masonite
24 x 17in
signed 'LeRoy Neiman' (lower left) and signed again, dated and inscribed 'Newsweek / 12-4-72 / Riggins / N.Y. Jets / LeRoy Neiman / '72' (on the reverse)
acrylic on Masonite
24 x 17in
Footnotes
PROVENANCE:
The artist
Private collection, gift from the above
By descent to the present owner
LITERATURE:
"The Year of the Runner," Newsweek, December 4, 1972, p 78-79, illustrated.
John Riggins, known as "Riggo" to many of his friends and fans, was the first round draft choice for the New York Jets in 1971. A big and bruising running back out of the University of Kansas became a star with the Jets and later the Washington Redskins. He also was known as an outspoken and flamboyant character; at times sporting a Mohawk haircut and famously telling Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor at a banquet to "loosen up, Sandy baby." As a Jet, he was a member of one of the more colorful professional sports teams then led by the irrepressible Joe Namath. In 1969, the upstart Jets, from the AFL, had boastfully taken the Super Bowl III championship from the venerable Baltimore Colts. That same year, the "Miracle Mets" won the World Series after years of struggling as an expansion team. The two teams captured the imaginations of New York fans and press with their on and off-field exploits.
On hand to record these years was the artist Leroy Neiman. A regular at Playboy clubs, nightspots and sporting events across the country, he regularly socialized with sports and entertainment figures and developed an audience for depictions of celebrities and their worlds. Neiman illustrated an article by Pete Axthelm for Newsweek entitled The Year of the Runner, which ran in a few weeks after Riggins and fellow teammate Emerson Boozer propelled the Jets to team record of 333 rushing on October 15, 1972.