Where is all the original baseball card artwork?

[toppcat]

There is a decent amount of Topps and Bowman original artwork around; I seem to recall over 100 1953 Topps paintings were auctioned fairly recently and Topps Vault has sold a ton of stuff over the years. I have also seen some 51/52 Bowman artwork from time to time. I would guess a lot of between the wars stuff is gone-I recall reading Goudey destroyed much of theirs and in pre-war I can't believe much American Litho or Caramel stuff has ever been out there.

[drc]

There is minimal original art for Pre-War baseball cards. Original paintings for Diamond Stars and National Chicle football exist, photos for Exhibit Supply cards and a few other isolated cards and minor issues. You'll see the Diamond Stars and Chicle paintings for sale/auction every once in a while, and several Diamond Star paintings are pictured in the Halper catalog.

If you include proofs, which are production items from the making/designing of the cards, you can find Pre-War material, including from Old Judge, T206s and T3s.

Also rare but available are the original full color paintings for other pre-war items like magazine covers and calendars. Collecting original magazine cover paintings and art from all areas and subjects would be an interesting area of collecting, as you can get cover art for everything from Sports Illustrated to Vogue.

[sb1]

Most of the Playball's and other late 1930's issues are from original photos take by George C. Burke. At one time I had a few hundred them. These can still be found with his stamp and numbering on the back.

Scott

[baseballart]

Here's a vintage pulp cover painting (I believe) of Bob Meusel in a Reds unifrom (the only year he played for them)

[rnisly]

These were auctioned by Hunt's in Aug 2005 (not mine)

[ocjack]

Also among the Topps 1953 artwork auctioned were the Mantle and Mays pictures that were purchased by Marriott Corp (I believe). They in turn, created 2000 numbered prints signed by Mantle and Mays which were sold to the public.

[drc]

A couple of years back there was an auction of original art for 1920-30s Vogue magazine covers, by well known artists. Some were normal paintings, but one was a collage of title. I didn't find the design particularly attractive, but the material was definitely interesting and physical.