"It’s an honor to have been asked to paint this group of Hall of Famers."
Picture Perfect
Artist Bill Purdom crafted memorable 75th Anniversary Hall of Fame portrait
Bill Purdom grew up a Reds fan in Cincinnati, so his favorite player – Frank Robinson – remains clearly depicted in his mind’s eye.
But for the talented artist from Wilmington, N.C., a mental image of each of the 67 living Hall of Famers on the Museum’s 75th anniversary portrait was only slightly more difficult to form.
“I thought I needed to bring my ‘A’ game on every single face, but being a baseball fan just meant that it was a labor of love,” said Purdom, who spent more than 700 hours researching, composing and painting the original artwork. “Each one had to be as close to perfect as I could do. It was a very humbling experience.”
Purdom’s finished work features the 67 Hall of Famers living on June 12, 2014: The Museum’s 75th birthday. The original acrylic-on-canvas work has been purchased by a collector, but fans can call a version of the unique artwork their own via an inkjet-on-canvas, fine-art giclee.
Bill Purdom
The artwork features the Hall of Famers in a casual team-photo setting, with each member shown in a uniform as they would have appeared during their careers.
For Purdom, the challenge was bringing each Hall of Famer to life in a unique way.
“For Frank Robinson, we put him in a sleeveless jersey that the Orioles wore just six times in 1969,” Purdom said. “We wanted to show Bill Mazeroski with his glove since he’s famous for his fielding, and show Sandy Koufax just tossing a ball like the regular guy he was.
“The photos of Ernie Banks and Whitey Ford were even from a book that I had in second grade. Just to find images like that to go on took research and time.”
Purdom has worked with the Museum since 2004, producing lithographs for the Museum’s Membership Department. The Auburn University graduate visited the Museum in the mid-1980s for a show – and the relationship grew from there.
“It was a perfect storm of happy coincidences,” said Purdom, who has four original works – including paintings of Reggie Jackson, Hank Aaron, Bob Feller and Duke Snider – preserved in the Museum’s artwork collection. “There’s something so special about Cooperstown. I remember leaving a signed Wiffle ball when my brother and I visited in the 1980s just so we could say we had something here.
“It’s an honor to have been asked to paint this group of Hall of Famers.”
Craig Muder is the director of communications at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum