LEROY NEIMAN 1921-2012

(Bloomberg) -- LeRoy Neiman, the flamboyantly mustachioed painter whose vivid portraits of athletes and celebrities made him one of the best-known and most commercially successful American artists, has died. He was 91.

He died yesterday, the Associated Press reported, citing his publicist, Gail Parenteau. No cause of death was reported. The New York Post said in April 2010 that a vascular problem had forced the amputation of Neiman’s right leg.

Though Neiman never won acclaim among experts and critics, and entire books on 20th-century art don’t mention his name, his post-impressionist figurative paintings, sold in quantity as serigraphs, lithographs and posters, delivered art to a mass audience.