Batter Up
Batter Up
Fred Conway
American, 1900 - 1973
1972
Mixed Media
14 x 13 in. (35.6 x 33.0 cm)
Signed and Dated 1972 Lower Right
Framed Size: 20 x 19.5 inches
A ballplayer crouches at the plate, bat cocked, the catcher braced behind him and the umpire looming at his shoulder — the whole battery caught in the same charged instant. Conway renders the trio in his characteristically loose, gestural hand, patches of ochre, white, and violet built up quickly, with just enough structure to keep the figures and the tension between them legible.
Conway was one of St. Louis's most significant 20th-century artist-educators. Born in the city in 1900, he trained at the St. Louis School of Fine Arts under sculptor Victor Holm before spending two years in Paris, studying at the Académie Julian, the Académie Moderne, and the Grande Chaumière. He returned to teach at Washington University, where he remained on the faculty for four decades. It was there that he formed a close association with Max Beckmann during the German painter's residency — Beckmann in turn painted Conway's portrait in 1949, now in the Saint Louis Art Museum's collection. Conway also executed murals for the WPA and exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Kansas City Art Institute, and the Corcoran Gallery.
Batter Up dates to the final year of Conway's life; he died in St. Louis in August 1973.
Framed Size: 20 x 19.5 inches
A ballplayer crouches at the plate, bat cocked, the catcher braced behind him and the umpire looming at his shoulder — the whole battery caught in the same charged instant. Conway renders the trio in his characteristically loose, gestural hand, patches of ochre, white, and violet built up quickly, with just enough structure to keep the figures and the tension between them legible.
Conway was one of St. Louis's most significant 20th-century artist-educators. Born in the city in 1900, he trained at the St. Louis School of Fine Arts under sculptor Victor Holm before spending two years in Paris, studying at the Académie Julian, the Académie Moderne, and the Grande Chaumière. He returned to teach at Washington University, where he remained on the faculty for four decades. It was there that he formed a close association with Max Beckmann during the German painter's residency — Beckmann in turn painted Conway's portrait in 1949, now in the Saint Louis Art Museum's collection. Conway also executed murals for the WPA and exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Kansas City Art Institute, and the Corcoran Gallery.
Batter Up dates to the final year of Conway's life; he died in St. Louis in August 1973.
