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Capitalizing on Pete Rose's quest to break Ty Cobb's all-time hits record in 1985, Andy Warhol was commissioned by the Cincinnati Art Museum to produce a painting of Rose in the summer of that year. The original work of art, derived from a photo taken by Cincinnati photographer, Gordon Baer, is designed to resemble a baseball card.
The end product was four masterful silk screen images done in Warhol's iconic pop art style. The unlikely pairing proved to be quite symbiotic, as the Museum was easily able to recoup its initial $100,000 investment by selling 50 limited screen prints for $2,500 to $3,000 a pop, and the day after Warhol's painting was installed Rose broke the record. The two famously had very little interest in the other's world, but artist and ballplayer come together impressively in the work, with "Charlie Hustle" looking ready to take a hack and spring from the batter's box amid a splash of vintage Warhol color. Their stories became even more intertwined just a few years later as tragedy befell them both. Two years after painting it, Warhol died in his sleep from a cardiac arrhythmia, while Rose was banned from baseball in 1989.
This Limited edition screenprint is enormous 32” x 40” in size; a powerful image alone, and a powerful statement. Pencil signature from Charlie Hustle underlines his image. Additionally signed by Andy Warhol, also in pencil and numbered as “7/50”. Still in the original framing as sold by the Museum at the time.
With the explosion of the contemporary art market for Warhol pieces (his Soup Can lithographs have sold for several hundred thousand dollars); the marriage of one of Baseball’s most iconic players, baseball cards, and the sheer demand for anything Andy Warhol; what would this bring today?
*NOT FOR SALE* For display purposes only
Item: 12421
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