It almost makes one want to board Aeroflot to see this firsthand…maybe going out of Istanbul? Well no. And yet, there’s a universal energy on full display in this view by a master imbued with the Pop Art sensibilities of his time but working with impressionistic brushwork and bold colors. LeRoy Neiman was much better known for his exceptional sports paintings, practically inventing the genre by capturing the movement and emotion of athletes in action. No surprise that out of all candidates globally, he was chosen as the official artist for five Olympic Games. He likely created this work based on his only visit to the Soviet Union nine years earlier in March 1968. At that time, centrally ensconced at Moscow’s National Hotel with views toward Red Square, St. Basil’s Cathedral and the Kremlin, he observed and sketched from his room. He also wrote about the experience in his first artist's book, “LeRoy Neiman, Art & Lifestyle.” Coming full circle, his work is also in the permanent collection of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. Signature: bottom right (detail #10); numbered 203 out of 300 and embossed Styria Studios (detail #11)