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Sports Artists Step Up to the Plate

Art Business News, Sept, 2001 by Maja Tarateta

A growing group of artists have transcended the traditional sports art realm and discovered success

For Ernie Barnes, becoming a sports artist was the logical culmination of a talent he embraced and one that he denied for many years. Barnes is a former professional football player. But what many fans fail to realize is that as a child growing up in the South in the 1930s and '40s, Barnes never wanted to play football--professionally or on the playground. What he always wanted to do, and has always done, is paint.

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"As an infant, I was intrigued by the lines my pencil made on paper," said Barnes. "I'm still fascinated with the same concept." Today, he is part of a small but growing brotherhood of sports artists experiencing increasing popularity--those who transcend the traditional sports art realms of illustration, memorabilia and collectibles to be, first and foremost, artists.

Barnes traces his two-pronged career back to his youth. He describes himself as a "nerdy" kid whose "size worked against him." Because of his large stature, he made his mother promise she would never allow him to play football, no matter who asked. But after his minister and coach of the high-school team called on her one afternoon, he found himself on the practice field the next day. "I hated it," he said. "So I quit," Soon after, he was hiding from football practice when the bodybuilding instructor found him. The instructor took an interest in Barnes, spoke to his parents, and placed him on a weight-training program. Barnes went back out for football. "I had 26 scholarships by my graduation," he said.

At North Carolina College, Barnes majored in art and played football. There, he learned many of the basic techniques that have led to his work being touted for its use of the "analyzed moment," and as a "study in delayed motion." "The chairman of the art department trained students to understand and draw the human figure," said Barnes. "He told me to pay attention to what my body felt like in movement. I try to translate that onto paper."

For the remainder of his playing days, Barnes made notes and sketches at the end of each game about things he felt and saw on the gridiron. Today, "I work from a sense of observed point of view--a gut feeling," he said. "I never work from a photograph. I work from feelings I have in my head and things I can recall someone doing while I was playing. Football has a different look to me--I see Renaissance paintings!"

Sports Art Takes Off

Barnes is not alone in his elevation of the sports art genre. Today, many publishers and gallery owners are taking their cues from customers and embracing this increasingly popular world of fine sports art, a realm that includes such tried-and-true subjects as baseball, basketball, football, boxing and golf but which also comprises such sports as bullfighting, rodeo, surfing, cycling, bowling and windsurfing.

Elliott Burns, c.e.o, of Soho Editions in Irvington, N.Y., represents the work of Stephen Holland, who considers his paintings to transcend the "sports art" nomenclature that is often attached to it. "He considers himself a figurative artist who paints sports figures," said Burns. "In his mind, he doesn't limit himself to sports." When Burns first saw Holland's work, he pursued him "because he, unlike many sports artists, is a real painter. You can appreciate his work not just for the sports subject matter but for its painterly aspects."

At Chesterfield, Mo.-based Fine Art Ltd., sports art by a stable of well-known artists, like Allan Houser, Dale Chihuly and Clemens Briels, is exceedingly lucrative, representing approximately one-half of the company's sales, according to President Jack B. Scharr. The company has forged a name for itself in the genre since it was first approached by the U.S. Olympics Committee in 1987 to commission artists for a project composed of limited editions, prints and posters commemorating the 1988 Olympic Games in South Korea. Success with that endeavor has led the company to commission artists for a number of world-class sporting events, including the Olympics, each year the games are held.

Trendspotting

According to Scharr, there are three main trends in sports art today. "First, in representational art, there seems to be a need for the athlete to sign the image," he said. "Second, a contemporary depiction of the sport or event enhances the sales in today's market. Of course, you have to have the right artist. And third, landscape art sells. Even if it is the city where the event is taking place or the golf course where the tournament is being held, it sells--if done by the right artist."

The right artist, gallery owners and publishers agreed, means one with the ability to look at sports in ways that go beyond the moment depicted to say something more. "I can go where others who have not experienced athletics can't--to a spiritual point of view on the field," said Barnes. "My challenge is to try to share this."

Sports Artists Step Up to the Plate

Art Business News, Sept, 2001 by Maja Tarateta

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