Post War and Contemporary Art

We are grateful for the research conducted by Susan Weininger, Professor Emerita, Roosevelt University. 

Provenance:

Benjamin Galleries, Chicago

Donated to the Anshe Emet Thrift Store by the Estate of the Artist

Acquired from the above by Sue Taylor, Chicago in 1978

Thence by familial descent to the present owner

Exhibited:

Chicago, State of Illinois Art Gallery, Gertrude Abercrombie, March 18 - May 17, 1991 (also traveled to Springfield, Illinois State Museum, July 28 - October 15, 1991)

Lot Essay:

Home Run at White Sox Park, 1964, is a unique image for Gertrude Abercrombie, best known for her images of cats, owls, Victorian furniture, shells, and carnations, as well as those of solitary women (always herself) in barren landscapes or austere rooms. However, from the beginning of her career, the artist invested the sky with meaning, frequently depicting what she thought of as “her” moon, as well as expressive clouds, balloons, parachutists, even mooring lines connecting the moon to an earthbound object. These elements, like all the objects in her work, play an essential role in amplifying the meaning of the painting. 

Clouds are often flat, black bottomed, and somewhat ominous shapes, appearing in the sky even in scenes that have a serene appearance. Additionally, examples of objects in the sky that are not clouds occur with regularity. In Return to Living (1941, Private Collection) Abercrombie flags down a parachutist, presumably her new husband, Bob Livingston, to a picnic spread on the grass in front of her. In another, the artist and a parachutist move toward the same block house in the distance in The Parachutist (1945, Illinois State Museum). Other paintings make explicit links between sky and earth. In Between Two Camps (1948, Illinois State Museum) a kite secured to the ground flies in the sky, bisecting the painting and creating the boundary between the tent representing her first marriage and the stairway alluding to her (recent) second marriage. Likewise, in a number of works Abercrombie explores a theme she called Moored to the Moon. In a 1954 version, the artist is seated in a boat holding a fishing rod; the boat is secured by a thin thread to the moon above (Karma Gallery, New York). A 1963 painting with the same title shows the moon secured in the same way to a log poking out of a blue green sea. In these examples, the connections between earth and sky are intense, which may help us to better understand Home Run at White Sox Park.

Home Run at White Sox Park is not only rare in its focus on the sky, but also its reference to a particular occurrence at a particular place, in this case the home of the baseball team beloved particularly by residents of the south side of Chicago. And although Abercrombie, as an almost lifetime denizen of the south side Hyde Park neighborhood, was far more interested in jazz clubs and the musically focused parties she hosted at her home than the ballpark, she was able to transform what was a transcendent experience for some into her own personal vision of perfection. The year 1964 was a good one for the White Sox, culminating in a second-place finish in the American League, only one game behind the winning New York Yankees. Perhaps the outstanding performance of the team inspired her, perhaps she heard the story of a voodoo doll delivered to White Sox Headquarters to aid in their victories (accompanied by pins inscribed with names of all the opposing teams that could be used to ensure that their opponents would be doomed, something Abercrombie might have found enticing). Maybe she even went to a game. We may never know, but for some reason Abercrombie associated her ingenious image of the sky with this event.

The painting, however, has less to do with baseball than it does to Abercrombie’s understanding of the sky as a mirror of the earth. The distinctive blue-green sky is punctuated by eight white, circular (baseball-shaped) puffs, and a solitary red balloon floating up into the ether from the lower left. The “puffs” are not strictly clouds but are remnants of the post home run fireworks emitted by the exploding scoreboard that Bill Veeck introduced in 1960 and happen after every home team home run. The shapes of both the puffs and balloon, and the event surrounding them, certainly allude to baseball, but Abercrombie seems to have her mind elsewhere. This deceptively simple, beautifully composed, pristine image transports the viewer from the mundane to the exceptional, from the most earthly activity to something almost otherworldly.

The early 1960s were difficult for Abercrombie who was going through not only a difficult divorce but was also suffering from increasing physical issues and financial losses from a failed investment with a good friend. One would not expect an optimistic image as this one seems to be—calling to mind the home run, the beautiful clear day, the pure white of the smoke puffs, and the hopeful image of the balloon floating upward. The artist’s imagination and wit, as well as her characteristic skill in composition, are on display. In this painting, we could even say she hit a home run.