Baseball Glove Art Featuring Josh Gibson
Legendary Josh Gibson Portrayed on Vintage Mitt
Hall of Fame slugger Josh Gibson painted on a 1940s vintage catcher's mitt by Sean Kane.
Gibson, catcher for the Homestead Grays, Pittsburgh Crawfords and Latin League teams was one of the best power hitters of all time.
Gibson died in 1947 just before Major League Baseball was integrated. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1972.
He is credited with being Negro League Batting Champion in 1936, 1938, 1942 and 1945 and hitting between 800-1000 home runs in his professional career.
Gibson was on the 1943 and 1944 Negro League Champion Homestead Grays teams.
Photographs of Gibson show him wearing a Goldsmith brand Ernest Lombardi endorsed Major League Model mitt.
Research images of Josh Gibson with Catcher’s mitt.
After much research, I found the same model of glove for this painting, although the Ernie Lombardi signature stamping is very faint.
Lombardi is a fellow Hall of Fame catcher and has nearly identical professional playing years (1931-47) as Gibson (1930-46).
Whether it was a sign of the times – perhaps no equipment sponsorship was available to Gibson or he just preferred this glove model – I felt it was part of his story to maintain the reference to the mitt's origins and markings and I've painted around the signature stamping.
The hand-lettering is inspired by type examples found on Negro Leagues promotional and barnstorming posters.
Acrylic painting and hand-lettering design on Goldsmith circa-1940s baseball glove.
Final protective coating being applied to the finished artwork.
This painting has been sold. Inquires about paintings and commissioning glove artworks are welcome. Contact Me.
Artist Sean Kane
Sean Kane's baseball glove art is in the collection of the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and was part of the "Chasing Dreams" exhibit at the Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art. Sean was recognized as “Artist of the Month” by the National Art Museum of Sport. His work has been commissioned by the Philadelphia Phillies, Cal Ripken Sr Foundation and The Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital. More about Sean
