I just wanted to give public thanks to Graig Kreindler and share with the board the extremely generous –in fact, absolutely over-the-top - gift he sent to me. REA always tries to help people with their hobby-related projects in any way we can. Usually this takes the form of providing permission to use our copyrighted auction catalog images for publication, often requiring that we dig out and send high-res images from our past auctions photo library. We’ve supplied Graig with many high-res images over the years to help him with his paintings, to capture details that only high-res images can provide. It has always been our great pleasure to be of help.
Recently a package arrived to my attention from Graig. I had no idea what it could possibly be – I was not expecting anything and actually thought it must be a consignment of some kind that someone just happened to send to my attention. Anyway, I opened the package and inside was a beautiful original Graig Kreindler painting of Richie Allen. On the back was the title (“Dick Allen ‘69”) and a personal inscription from Graig thanking me for my assistance over the years and requesting me to please accept this painting as a token of his gratitude. To say I was surprised and overwhelmed by this extraordinary unexpected gift would be an understatement! This was totally unnecessary. But very much appreciated!
I should mention that Graig’s choice of Richie Allen as the subject was not random. Graig spoke to the guys at REA and learned that Richie Allen was my favorite player as a kid! To me, Richie Allen was always special and always a Hall of Famer! This painting truly captures the spirit of the Richie Allen I rooted for as a kid. It will always remain on display in REA’s offices, but I wanted to share the painting and its story with everyone on the board, and thank Graig for both his great talent (his paintings must be seen to be fully appreciated – they are gorgeous) and his great generosity. Thank you!
Sincerely,
Robert Lifson
Robert Edward Auctions LLC
www.RobertEdwardAuctions.com
