The Three Umpires depicts a moment in a game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Brooklyn Dodgers in which the umpires are looking at the sky, trying to make the tough decision of whether or not to call the game because of rain. The class will go into detail about the creation of the work (including Norman Rockwell’s taking of reference photos at Ebbets Field), anomalies, controversies, and interesting facts about the painting (such as why only three umpires are depicted, the models for the three Pirates players shown in the painting, and why the Dodgers manager is smiling and the Pirates manager is frowning even though the Pirates will automatically win if the game is called because of rain). An overview of Rockwell’s other baseball paintings will also be provided. Note: this is not a class about art history or style. It is Norman Rockwell from a baseball perspective.
((Ron Backer - Wednesday - CMU))
