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Artist
Jack Davis, 2 Dec 1924 - 27 Jul 2016
Sitter
George Herman "Babe" Ruth, 6 Feb 1895 - 17 Aug 1948
Date
1976
Type
Painting
Medium
Watercolor, crayon, and ink over graphite pencil on paperboard
Dimensions
Accurate: 76.5 x 50.8cm (30 1/8 x 20")
Mat: 82.6 × 66cm (32 1/2 × 26")
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Time magazine
Ruth never made the cover of Time magazine in his lifetime, as did such other great hitters of his era, including Rogers Hornsby, George Sisler, and Jimmy Foxx. Yet in 1976, when Yankee Stadium “reopened in plushly refurbished form,” the editors appropriately selected Ruth for its April 26 cover issue. The original stadium had opened on April 18, 1923, and in that inaugural game, Ruth hit the first home run in what came to be called the “House that Ruth Built.”
En vida, Ruth nunca apareció en la portada de la revista Time, como sí fue el caso de otros grandes toleteros de su época, entre ellos Rogers Hornsby, George Sisler y Jimmy Foxx. Sin embargo, en 1976, cuando el Estadio Yankee “reabrió sus puertas lujosamente renovado”, los editores seleccionaron apropiadamente a Ruth para la portada del 26 de abril. El estadio original se había inaugurado el 18 de abril de 1923, y en aquel partido de apertura Ruth bateó el primer jonrón en lo que llegó a conocerse como “La casa que Ruth construyó”.
