Warhop, New York, American League, from the White Border series (T206) for the American Tobacco Company 1909 - 1911

This baseball card of Warhop, from the American Tobacco Company's White Border series, is a snapshot of a bygone era. Look at the way the colors are laid down—that saturated yellow ochre background, the dusty grays of the uniform. I can imagine the commercial artists who created these cards, thinking about capturing the essence of Warhop, his stance, his gaze. It’s interesting to think about what it was like to create such a card, especially compared to a painting. Here, you're aiming to be representative. In painting, I can be more about how something feels, rather than how it looks. But maybe these artists were having a similar experience in some ways? Both are trying to capture a feeling, a moment. What was Warhop thinking? What does it mean to be the subject of an image that will live on? We painters are always looking and taking from the world around us, whether it's a face, a landscape, or even a baseball card. It's all part of the same conversation.