WW1 Baseball Art

[benjulmag]

I thought I would share a baseball painting painted by the European artist, Rene-Xavier Prinet c. 1917. It depicts a baseball game being played by US soldiers in France during WW1. During the war our government shipped several hundred thousand baseball bats to soldiers stationed overseas to help relieve the stress of war. It is reported most Army, Navy and Marine Corps had teams, and the American military created 77 baseball diamonds in France. This is the only baseball painting I have seen painted in Europe during this period by a European artist. Needless to say, the artist was lacking in knowledge of certain aspects of where players are positioned, but I think it is a very interesting image. It is an oil, the painting having dimensions of 25 1/2" by 36 1/2". The inscription on the frame reads Rrene Xavier Prinet, 1st Match de Baseball - France, October 1917.

[todeen]

Originally Posted by benjulmag

I thought I would share a baseball painting painted by the European artist, Rene-Xavier Prinet c. 1917.

Where is this painting located?

[bgar3]

That is really interesting and historical. Fits your collection nicely.

[jthorst75]

I could stare at that all day!

[ruth-gehrig]

That's great! Good look and nice size as well.

[aelefson]

Very cool! I did not know about all of the fields they created. Great history and great item representing that history!

Alan

[Snapolit1]

That is super super cool. Thanks for sharing.

[lumberjack]

It's funny that it took a European artist to capture baseball. Winslow Homer did one painting of baseball, there is Currier and Ives and later Norman Rockwell, but American painters pretty much ignored what had become America's National Pastime.

Yes, the painter had a rudimentary knowledge of baseball, unless he was capturing an early defensive shift....

lumberjack

[bgar3]

There were more American paintings pre WWI than you might at first think.
Many of the famous illustrators made paintings before Rockwell and the Thomas Eakins painting is a masterpiece. Add numerous folk art paintings and you have a pretty good selection.

[lumberjack]

bgar3, thank you, I stand corrected. To add something....

Lewis Hine, who documented tenement life and child labor through his photographs, has a pretty well known early 20th century shot of kids playing ball in an alley that's worth checking out.

[bgar3]

Checking it out, thanks.

[benjulmag]

Originally Posted by lumberjack

It's funny that it took a European artist to capture baseball. Winslow Homer did one painting of baseball, there is Currier and Ives and later Norman Rockwell, but American painters pretty much ignored what had become America's National Pastime.

Yes, the painter had a rudimentary knowledge of baseball, unless he was capturing an early defensive shift....

lumberjack

Which Winslow Homer painting are you referring to?

[mrreality68]

Amazing the details of the piece

Congrats

[lumberjack]

I'm getting out over my skis. Hine did two photos, "Playground In Mill Village, 1909," and "The Ball Team. Composed mainly of glass workers, Indiana, August, 1908."

It wasn't Homer, but William Morris Hunt, who came before Homer and died in 1879. Hunt's painting is, "The Ball Players" and dates from 1877.

Homer sketched soldiers playing football, which looks like a brawl.

[gonefishin]

I love the painting. It's amazing how the painting has held up over all this time.

My earliest original can't hold up to your painting, however it's pretty cool. I'm guessing it is circa mid 1920's. It's an original charcoal I'm guessing that was used for advertising in newspapers, etc for the Kendall Gas and Oil company. It pictures Buck Crouse who played from 1923-30 for the White Sox, and measures about 21x13.

I think any original art from the early 1900's related to baseball is pretty rare air.

[benjulmag]

Originally Posted by lumberjack

I'm getting out over my skis. Hine did two photos, "Playground In Mill Village, 1909," and "The Ball Team. Composed mainly of glass workers, Indiana, August, 1908."

It wasn't Homer, but William Morris Hunt, who came before Homer and died in 1879. Hunt's painting is, "The Ball Players" and dates from 1877.

Homer sketched soldiers playing football, which looks like a brawl.

Thanks for the response! I had not been aware of that Hunt painting. It is a beautiful painting!