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

This is a baseball card from the White Border series, printed by the American Tobacco Company. Look at the way the image is put together – the flat, pale blue background, the way the figure is outlined. It’s like the artist built up the image in layers, adding colour bit by bit to create this picture of a ball player. I wonder if they knew much about baseball. Maybe they had a bunch of photos and just painted what they saw, trying to capture the spirit of the game without getting too caught up in the details. It's interesting to think about the decisions they made: the colours they chose, the way they simplified the shapes. For me, there's something really cool about seeing how different artists approach similar subjects. It reminds me that art is always a conversation, a way of seeing the world through someone else's eyes. And that’s what makes it so exciting.