FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Re: Coronado Museum Exhibit
Contact: Joe Ditler
619.435.7242

FAMOUS LEROY NEIMAN PAINTING SURFACES
Intended Sale To Benefit Education

CORONADO -- Cigar-smoking, flamboyant artist LeRoy Neiman painted an image of the Hotel del Coronado in 1976 that received praise throughout the art world. Called, "Del Coronado Petit Galop," the painting captured the historic Victorian hotel with riders on horseback galloping across a sandy beach.

For two decades thousands of visitors to the historic hotel enjoyed the painting by Neiman, who had a gallery at the Hotel Del for years. Neiman gained notoriety for creating images depicting "America at Play." He is arguably the most popular sports artist in the world.

When M. Larry Lawrence, then-owner of the Hotel del Coronado, acquired the painting, he speculated it would forever hang on the walls of the 1888 beachside hotel for the world to enjoy.

Lawrence died in 1997, hotel ownership changed hands, and the painting came down. His widow, Shelia Davis Lawrence, donated "Petit Galop" to the Coronado Schools Foundation in 1998. The Foundation had safely stored the painting since that time.

The six-foot painting hung in the Coronado Museum of History & Art from March 1 through July 10. The museum, in cooperation with the Coronado Schools Foundation, endeavored to bring new attention to the painting in the hope it would find a new owner, which it did. Proceeds will benefit Coronado's public schools through an endowment fund. The Foundation was asking $90,000 for the painting, far below its appraised value. A Coronado family who wishes to remain anonymous, purchased the painting.

The artist, now 85 and still painting on a daily basis after 60 years (and still smoking his trademark cigars), recalled by telephone from his New York office recently what led him to paint "Petit Galop."

"I was staying at the Hotel del Coronado and was smitten by this amazing wooden structure, the tale of the Duchess of Windsor, the spectacular white beach, the perfect weather, and just the overall mood of the place. It was not a commissioned piece, just something I felt very strongly about doing at the time.

"I began to sketch images on my notepad while walking by the ocean, then, remembered another beach from my youth with horses galloping in the sand. It was such a romantic concept I decided to put the two together and then got carried away with the project. I was finished in two weeks."

The acrylic on canvas painting had been appraised at $125,000. It depicts four young people, one female and three males (without shirts), riding horses bareback on the beach with the hotel in the background and splashing water in the foreground. There is a dog running in front of the horses.

"We are delighted to work with our neighbors at the Foundation in support of Coronado schools, and to do what we can to help bring attention to this fabulous piece of art," said Joe Ditler, Executive Director of the Coronado Museum.

LeRoy Neiman was the official artist for ABC-TV at the Olympic Games in 1972 and 1976, and at the Winter Olympics of 1980. His work has been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the world, including the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and the Hermitage in Leningrad.

Just a few of the subjects captured in his paintings are President Jimmy Carter, Brigitte Bardot, Frank Sinatra, Jack Nicklaus, Mickey Mantle, Louis Armstrong, Muhammed Ali, Martin Luther King, Jack Dempsey, Leonard Bernstein, Diana Ross, Bobby and Ted Kennedy, Reggie Jackson, Pele, Mae West, and the Beatles.

Originals of Neiman's work have sold for as much as half a million dollars, and his work has appeared regularly in the pages of Playboy Magazine since its inception in 1953. He has a very popular following, still.

The Coronado Schools Foundation is a nonprofit 501-c-3 Community Foundation that raises funds to bridge the gap created by fluctuating government funding to public schools. Funds raised are used to provide essential programs, materials, and equipment to help meet the District and community's expectations of "an exemplary education for every student." Their efforts have returned more than $2.8 million to Coronado public schools over the past 25 years.

The Coronado Museum of History & Art and Coronado Visitor Center are located in historic downtown Coronado at 1100 Orange Avenue. The museum is open daily from 9-5 on weekdays, and 10-5 on weekends. Admission is a suggested donation. For more information call the museum at 619.435.7242 or visit their website at www.coronadohistory.org.

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