This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/7/2018
In 2010, noted sports artist Dick Perez published "The Immortals Collection" as a retrospective of the history of baseball though his paintings, showing all the aspects of baseball's role in American culture from clashes of labor and management to the rise of racial equality and the game's evolution into the great American pastime. Featured on page 97 of the book is a photo of this original oil painting, which is titled "Hall-Of-Famers Mathewson and Evans" and captures the two Cooperstown immortals in a lighthearted pregame moment. There is no artist more respected in the baseball community than Dick Perez, whose credits include artwork for Topps as well as the Donruss Diamond Kings series' and, of course, the highly admired artistry of the Perez-Steele series of postcards. While many of his pieces are of more contemporary Cooperstown residents, having done representations of Yogi Berra, Joe DiMaggio, Pee Wee Reese, Phil Rizzuto, Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax, Cal Ripken Jr. and Mike Schmidt, he does occasionally reach back to the turn of the century legends like this pairing of "The Christian Gentleman" and "The Boy Umpire" but it's extremely rare to find an original Perez as large as the featured 27 1/2" x 27 1/2" size in its handsome wooden frame. A perfect addition for the sports card and art collector alike, the piece is an accurate depiction of the game, early 1900s style, and features one of the greatest players and umpires in baseball history.