1969 New York Knicks vs. Boston Celtics Massive Original Painting by LeRoy Neiman....

Click the image to load the highest resolution version.

Sold on Feb 25, 2023 for:

Sign-in or Join (free & quick)

Get one of these:

Share this lot

Track Item Printable Auction Results

Sell One of These

Description

Auction Info

Guides & Info

Description

Five Hall of Famers!

1969 New York Knicks vs. Boston Celtics Massive Original Painting by LeRoy Neiman. Utterly massive by every standard of measurement--physical size, fame of the subjects and collecting desirability--this towering oil on board finds its creator at the peak of his unrivaled skill and acclaim. Though LeRoy Neiman's artistic domain was truly global, tracking the biggest events in sports across all continents, he was always a New Yorker at heart, and he found the inspiration for this gigantic painting just blocks from his Manhattan studio, upon the National Basketball Association's most hallowed hardcourt. This Madison Square Garden masterpiece clearly required all of its four feet of height and six feet of width to contain the fierce Eastern Conference Finals battle it portrays.

Amplifying the travel schedule for this historic rivalry, the series alternated venues for each game, with the Big Apple getting the odd-numbered contests and Beantown the evens. The Knicks would claim victory in Games Three and Five, but the mighty Celtics won each of their home games and the Game One at the Garden to win in six, en route to a thrilling seven-game NBA Finals victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Five of the six men captured here by Neiman's chaotic brush strokes are immortalized in Springfield: Walt Frazier (10) and Bill Bradley (24) of the Knicks, and Bill Russell (6), John Havlicek (17) and Sam Jones (24) of the Celtics. Neiman himself, whose signature and "69" date appear at lower left corner of the work, brings the Hall of Fame tally to five, thanks to his 2007 induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame for his many contributions to fight posters and programs in the 1970's and 1980's.

The massive work measures just over 48x72" in size, with a narrow metal frame adding an inch or two to each dimension. Neiman's signature and date appear in turquoise at lower left. An inspection of the painting's surface reveals no condition issues of concern, and we advise interested bidders to take advantage of our high-resolution online photography to inspect the work independently. It's been nearly a decade since we've offered a Neiman comparable in size to this masterpiece, a 1971 Muhammad Ali portrait that commanded a winning bid of $155,350, a figure that it would almost certainly surpass if it were to take another turn on the Heritage auction block.