Art. Baseball cards.
Art as collectible. Baseball cards as collectibles.
Art signed. Baseball cards autographed.
Art as aesthetic object. Baseball card as aesthetic object.
The mark of the artist. The mark of a baseball player.
Paintings are indexed in catalogs. Baseball cards are indexed in catalogs.
Some baseball player autographs have wonderful aesthetic qualities. I went on eBay and purchased the autographs that looked most visually interesting. Then I went to the Art Institute of Chicago’s modern wing and matched up the aesthetics of the autograph with modern paintings.
Meandering curving lines with occasional bends. Warm colors.
• Enos Campbell, 1984 Topps #786
• Paul Klee, 1934 “In the Magic Mirror”
Straight lines. Curved lines. Thin lines.
• Jim Gott, 1991 Fleer #200
• Paul Klee, 1940 “Dancing Girl”
Straight lines. Blues and whites with red highlights.
• Piet Mondrian, 1935 “Composition (No. 1) Gray-Red”
• Scott Sanderson, 1986 Donruss #442
Large curves and circles. Maroons.
• Pablo Picasso, 1931 “The Red Armchair”
• Pat Combs, 1991 Score #440
Quirky shapes. Reds. Blues.
• Joan Miro, 1933 “Personages with Star”
• Ernie Mc Millan, 1973 Topps #488
Squiggly lines. Greens, yellows, blues. More squiggly lines.
• Brice Marden, 2006-09 “Second Letter (Zen Spring)
• Dal Maxvill, 1972 Topps #206
Quirky thick lines. Shapely. Oranges. Goofy.
• Philip Guston, 1970 “Bad Times”
• Frank DiPino, 1984 Topps #532
Repeated rhythmic lines. Blues.
• Gerhard Richter, 1989 “Ice (eis) 1, 2, 3, 4”
• Oddible McDowell, Jr., 1988 Donruss #382
Energy lines. Some long. Some short. All thrown down.
• Jackson Pollock, 1953 “Greyed Rainbow”
• Chuck McElroy, 1993 Upper Deck #130
Reds and blues. Large swooping curves. Smaller detailed repeated lines.
• Jean Dubuffet, 1963 “Genuflection of the Bishop”
• Mark Lewis, 1991 Donruss #29
Simple shapes. One large circle. One semi-circle. Golds, blacks, grays and whites. Bold. Strong.
• Robert Motherwell, 1944 “Wall Painting with Stripes”
• Bobby Bonilla, 1989 Topps #440
The Art Institute of Chicago tweeted me about this project!
Prep
Before I went to the Art Institute to match up the cards with paintings, I sorted the autographs by character.
