: - Baseball is recognized as the national pastime, but for some
artists and collectors the game has become a driving passion as
well. This year, the American Folk Art Museum steps up to the
plate with "The Perfect Game: America Looks at Baseball," a
comprehensive exhibition of more than 100 pieces of folk art with
a common theme that will enjoy an exceptionally long run through
February 1.
Elizabeth V. Warren, who organized the exhibition and authored
the accompanying catalog, was the museum's curator from 1984 to
1990 and has been its consulting curator since 1991. A lifelong
New Yorker, Warren had an additional job qualification: "The
museum asked me to do the show, knowing that I was a baseball fan
and have always followed sports," she said.
As it turned out, the spirit was willing but the collection was
weak. "It was different than other projects I have worked on in
the past," states Warren. "Number one, we had almost nothing in
our own collection to start with -- we had one object and that
was it. But that one object -- a baseball show figure on rolling
stand -- was bought for the museum as a promised gift by Bill and
Millie Gladstone." In her introduction to the exhibition catalog,
the curator states flatly: "Without the Gladstone Collection of
Baseball Art there would be no 'Perfect Game.' You are the
ultimate baseball collectors."
As a starting point, Warren had paid a visit to the couple. "I
had been told that the Gladstones had a wonderful collection of
baseball art. I said, 'Before I commit to this project, let me
see what they've got and find out if there's enough material out
there to fill the museum.' So I went to see their collection and
judging by what was there, I knew it was a viable project. At the
very least, we'd have a small show, and at best we'd be able to
get three floors, which we did. The Gladstones put me in touch
with a couple of people who put me in touch with others. It was
very much word of mouth."
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown,
N.Y. -- the institution that one might expect would lend multiple
objects to the exhibition -- was not a major source because of
the criteria for inclusion the curator had established. She says,
"We weren't looking for memorabilia; we didn't want relics. We
wanted works of American folk art with baseball as their subject
matter."
