id: 160301 accession number: 1998.179 share license status: Copyrighted url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1998.179 updated: 2022-01-04 17:23:56.450000 The Cleveland Indian (After Eakins), 1995-1998. R. B. Kitaj (American, 1932-2007). Oil on canvas; unframed: 182.9 x 61 cm (72 x 24 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Agnes Gund 1998.179 © Marlborough Gallery, New York title: The Cleveland Indian (After Eakins) title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1995-1998 creation date earliest: 1995 creation date latest: 1998 current location: creditline: Gift of Agnes Gund copyright: © Marlborough Gallery, New York --- culture: America, 20th century technique: oil on canvas department: Contemporary Art collection: CONTEMP - Painting type: Painting find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * R. B. Kitaj (American, 1932-2007) - artist --- measurements: Unframed: 182.9 x 61 cm (72 x 24 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * "How to Reach 67 in Jewish Art: 100 Pictures," Marlborough Madrid (Sept. 12 - Oct. 14, 2000), Marlborough New York (Oct. 31 - Dec. 2, 2000). --- PROVENANCE --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: Cleveland-born artist R. B. Kitaj has nurtured a lifelong infatuation with baseball. Like many Cleveland fans, he waited more than 40 years for his hometown team to win a championship. When the Indians won the American League pennant in 1995, he began to work on The Cleveland Indian,the first painting he completed after moving to Los Angeles in 1997 from London, his home for 38 years. The solitary figure is not meant to be a portrait of a specific player, but refers to the team and its players in a general way. The figure's posture was inspired by a batter depicted in a small watercolor by Thomas Eakins (Baseball Players, Practicing, in 1875). Kitaj also relied on recent numerous newspaper articles and photographs to refine his rendering, yet he kept the background ambiguous, giving free rein to his interest in abstract forms, expressive brushwork, and vivid color. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Cleveland Museum of Art, “New Cleveland Indian Arrives at the CMA,” November 27, 1998, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. page number: url: https://archive.org/details/cmapr4223 --- IMAGES