Graham, St. Louis, American League, from the White Border series (T206) for the American Tobacco Company 1909 - 1911

This baseball card of Graham, St. Louis, was printed by the American Tobacco Company, and that in itself is quite something. Look at the layering of color, this almost pixelated effect. This lithographic process becomes its own kind of mark-making, and it gives us a clue to the artistic and commercial processes in play at the time it was made. I’m drawn to the green field with that tiny glimpse of a blue-and-white stadium in the distance. The yellow sky contrasts with the green, bringing out the texture and grain of the paper. Graham's grey uniform almost blends into the field, and the motion of his body is interrupted by a thick black belt. It brings the viewer into his physical space, ready to hurl a ball towards an unseen batter. These cards remind me of a painter like Fairfield Porter, another artist capturing everyday American life with a kind of quiet intensity. It’s a reminder that art is always in conversation, borrowing and reimagining, finding beauty in the most unexpected places.