Plank, Philadelphia, American League, from the White Border series (T206) for the American Tobacco Company 1909 - 1911

This small cardboard painting of baseballer Plank was made for the American Tobacco Company. I love the colors: the soft blue background, the muted reds and browns of his face. It feels like a lithograph, maybe, or some form of early photo-mechanical reproduction? Imagine being the commercial artist who made this. You have to create a likeness, but you are also making a product that has to pop in a sea of other cards. Maybe you are thinking about how to flatten it out, how to make it iconic, and how to make it fast. The color feels thin, and you can see the canvas texture coming through. Take a look at the way they’ve painted the “A” on the shirt. It’s so flat, so graphic, it almost looks like a proto Pop Art logo. The white border around the painting is a nice touch. We don't know who made this piece, but I like to imagine that some unknown artist was thinking about the same formal problems as any so-called 'high' artist. This image is part of a larger conversation about representation, abstraction, and the cultural values we attach to images.