Summer Premium and Catalog Auction July 31 & Aug 8
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/9/2015
Yes, believe it or not, this is a painting. More than that, it's the definitive MJ masterpiece, created by a modern-day alchemist who turns lead into pure gold.
With just his pencils, paint and painstaking precision, Adam Port has deftly rendered this ultra-iconic scene of His Airness in flight. Port has transformed reality into art. He has elevated the real thing into something even better than the real thing. The dance of bright light and dark shadow; the intense foreground zoom against a softly blurred background; the compositional balance and sheer magnitude—all of these hallmarks of Port's unique style combine to showcase #23 as never before.
Spanning the (appropriately symbolic) dimensions of 23" x 45", this eye-popping portrait must be seen firsthand for full appreciation, and we'll be proudly displaying it at our National Convention booth in the Windy City. Attendees of the 2011 Chicago National may recall that Adam set up shop right there on the show floor, painting his Conlon Collection "Cobb Sliding" artwork that would later sell at auction for $24,000. For the 2013 Chicago National, he presented his "1952 Topps Mickey Mantle" portrait. But when we invited him to now participate in our 2015 Live Auction, Port immediately switched gears to hoops and gravitated toward his all-time favorite athlete: Michael. Back in 2009, the Basketball Hall of Fame commissioned Adam to paint the Class of '09 inductees—all of whom, including Jordan, receiving a signed print. "It was a thrill for me," Port recalls. "I've always admired Jordan's work ethic and competitiveness. How he never settled for second best. That's what I try to shoot for—always making my next painting the best one yet." We couldn't agree more.
Matted and framed to overall dimensions of nearly 3 feet x 5 feet.
Bio: Heir-apparent to the great modern masters of photorealist portraiture, Adam Port reigns as one of the nation's premier sports and entertainment artists, with a clientele that has included influential entities like the NBA, Basketball Hall of Fame and Elvis Presley Enterprises, along with A-list stars like Michael Jordan, Carmelo Anthony and Ray Lewis. A graduate of Syracuse University’s School of Visual and Performing Arts, Port has perfected his trademark technique of using acrylic paint and colored pencil on illustration board to create breathtakingly life-like portraits.