KNOXVILLE, TENN. — A large LeRoy Neiman (1921-2012) abstract oil on board painting depicting a wine tasting or dinner party with men and women in formal attire gathered around a banquet table laden with wine bottles and glasses illuminated by a crystal chandelier led the American paintings, selling above its high estimate for $78,000, including buyer’s premium, on Day One of Case Antiques’ July 9-10 summer fine art and antiques sale. Signed and dated “Leroy Neiman ’65” lower right, with remnants of an old gallery label and a newspaper clipping depicting Neiman affixed en verso of frame, the 35½-by-47½-inch painting was housed in a carved giltwood frame with an off-white velvet liner. Neiman was described as the most popular living painter in America during his lifetime. While strikingly original, his work reflected the varied influences of Toulouse-Lautrec, Dufy, the New York Social Realists and the Abstract Expressionists. Probably best known as a portrayer of sporting and social events, he virtually invented the modern genre of sports art and remained its most accomplished and acclaimed practitioner until his death in 2012. The painting came from the estate of Palm Beach and Chattanooga publishing executive Margaret Harold Roberts, Lookout Mountain, Ga. A full report on this sale follows.