Note: This news was originally posted Feb. 25, 2011.
The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery has recently acquired a painting of Pedro Martinez; this is the first image of the Major League Baseball pitcher in the collection. The museum will install the portrait March 25 in the exhibition “Recent Acquisitions.”
Born in the Dominican Republic and an American citizen since 2006, Martinez was impressive in his debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers in September 1992. He will always be remembered for the seven-year period when he established, in the words of baseball commentator Peter Gammons, “the most dominant stretch of any pitcher in baseball history.” He is an eight-time All Star and a three-time Cy Young Award winner (1997, 1999 and 2000). He has pitched for five teams in his career, most recently with the Philadelphia Phillies. In addition, Martinez was a member of the World Series-winning Red Sox in 2004.
“We are thrilled to include this portrait of Pedro Martinez in the National Portrait Gallery’s collection,” said Martin Sullivan, director of the museum. “Martinez is widely recognized as one of the great Major League Baseball pitchers who also is concerned for the well-being of his larger community.”
The portrait was created by Susan Miller-Havens in 2000 with oil and beeswax on Baltic birch, and measures 57 inches by 21 inches. Miller-Havens is a contemporary American painter who has depicted a number of prominent athletes, in addition to other figurative pieces. This is the second of three portraits of Martinez that she created in her Cambridge, Mass., studio. The Portrait Gallery’s collection includes another painting by Miller-Havens of former Major League Baseball catcher Carlton Fisk.
The portrait of Martinez is a gift to the museum from Gloria Trowbridge Gammons and Peter Warren Gammons in honor of Martinez, whose baseball career is paralleled by his lifelong work promoting educational opportunities for less fortunate children in America and his own Dominican Republic.
National Portrait Gallery
The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery tells the history of America through the individuals who have shaped it. Through the visual arts, performing arts and new media, the Portrait Gallery portrays poets and presidents, visionaries and villains, actors and activists whose lives tell the American story.
The National Portrait Gallery opened to the public in 1968. The museum’s collection of more than 20,000 works includes paintings, sculpture, photographs, drawings and new media. Located at Eighth and F streets N.W., in Washington, D.C., it is open every day, except Dec. 25, from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Smithsonian information: (202) 633-1000; (202) 633-5285 (TTY). Website: npg.si.edu.
Note to editors: An image for publicity may be downloaded from a password-protected FTP site. Call (202) 633-8293 or e-mail bentleyb@si.edu to access the site.
# # #
SI-93-2011
