Little do many people know, Diamond Kingmaker Dick Perez actually cut his teeth on gridiron art. It was the Philadelphia Eagles that initially discovered Dick, hired him to illustrate their 1972 yearbook, and then recommended his talents to the Phillies front office. The rest, of course, is Baseball Hall of Fame history. But even as he took the baseball-card hobby by storm with his Perez-Steele HOF Postcards, Dick continued collaborating with the Eagles and the NFL up through the mid-1980s, producing yearbooks, media guides and other special projects. Now, revisiting football for the first time after a decade-long hiatus, Perez has fittingly chosen a subject with tremendous crossover appeal to both National Pastimes. One of Dick’s three all-time favorite ballplayers (along with Clemente and Greenberg), Jackie Robinson here strikes an iconic pose during his days as UCLA’s All-American tailback. Jackie’s spread-eagle leap provides perfect compositional balance, while Perez’s warm, earth-tone color palette and simplified, pastoral landscape breathe new life into the famous black-and-white photo on which it is based. In Dick’s own words, “I think this is the most unusual and meaningful football piece I’ve ever done.”

Bio: Dick Perez is the preeminent living baseball artist—and arguably the greatest the sport has ever known. For over 40 years, Perez has paid homage to the game’s pantheon through monumental projects such as his Perez-Steele Art Cards, Donruss Diamond Kings, Immortals luxury book, and Charles Conlon Collection. Throughout that time, he has also held the distinguished position of Official Artist for the Philadelphia Phillies, Baseball Hall of Fame, Donruss and Topps. Perez’s Impressionist-style portraits are housed in the prestigious collections of museums, major-league franchises, corporations, and private art collectors including Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan.

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