Renowned watercolor artist and illustrator James Fiorentino makes history as first artist selected for induction into New York State Baseball Hall of Fame
— Rene LeRoux, New York State Baseball Hall of Fame Executive Director
GLOVERSVILLE, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, December 21, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ — The New York State Baseball Hall of Fame announced Monday that acclaimed baseball artist James Fiorentino has been selected for induction into the New York State Baseball Hall of Fame in 2024. The announcement was made by Rene LeRoux, the hall’s Executive Director, who said that Fiorentino is the first artist to be chosen for selection for his contributions in art to the game of baseball.
“I was very happy to make ‘the call’ to James, who had no idea this was coming,” LeRoux said, adding, “During this holiday season it is even more fun to add special people like James! Congratulations and welcome to the Hall!”
While he attends far more Little League games than MLB games these days (both of his boys play), Fiorentino, whose favorite players all wore pinstripes, still attends a handful of major-league games each year, usually at Yankee Stadium, but he and his family also enjoy the local Somerset Patriots, a Double-A affiliate of the Yankees.
“It’s great to see guys coming up,” Fiorentino recently told Forbes, “It’s nice to live in an area where we have such a great stadium and great team.”
A graduate of Drew University, Fiorentino spent four years as varsity shortstop for the school, making the all-conference team as a freshman and eventually getting into the Middlesex High School Sports Hall of Fame. He even hit a home run at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown when his American Legion team played there.
“I enjoy the game more than other artists because I played it,” he said, “but I knew my life would be more involved on the art side.”
At the age of fifteen, Fiorentino became the youngest artist ever featured in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum for his likeness of Reggie Jackson, and he tries to visit the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown at least once a year. His work displayed there includes the Induction Day program cover featuring Mike Schmidt, a Roberto Clemente painting in the permanent collection, plus a piece depicting Greatest Negro Leagues Players, which also hung in the Negro Leagues museum in Kansas City.
I painted a custom portrait of Honus Wagner, Cy Young, Chief Bender and Moonlight Doc Graham with the original 1906 Parkhurst Field grandstands in the background that was unveiled at the grand opening of the NYS Baseball Hall of Fame Museum this summer, and we were all looking forward to visiting the museum on our next trip up that way,” said Fiorentino, “which made getting the call from Rene such a surprise. It’s an incredible honor.”
LeRoux extended special thanks to Emmy Award winner Nancy Newman, host of YES Network’s Yankees Magazine program, and Yankees Executive Ray Negron for nominating Fiorentino for the honor.
About James Fiorentino
James Fiorentino (b.1977) is an American watercolor artist and illustrator who currently makes his home in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. A master in watercolor, Fiorentino’s artwork has hung in galleries and museums across North America and Europe as well as in private collections worldwide.
His professional career taking off while still in high school, Fiorentino became the youngest artist ever featured in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum for his likeness of Reggie Jackson. In 1998, while still a student at Drew University (where he was the starting shortstop for the baseball team all four years of college), Fiorentino earned the designation of being the youngest artist to be inducted into the prestigious New York Society of Illustrators, where he joined the ranks of American icons Norman Rockwell and Andrew Wyeth.
Fiorentino, often at the athlete’s request, has painted numerous sports legends including Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Cal Ripken Jr., Arnold Palmer, Muhammad Ali, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Michael Jordan, Allen Iverson, Julius Erving, and Tiger Woods. Topps, Upper Deck, and Kelloggs Sports Cards have all featured Fiorentino’s artwork, and Fiorentino recently launched his line of iconic sports card artwork titled “There Is Only One” and “Fiorentino Elite,” a collection to recognize the greatest athletes in the world through a series of 22″ x 30″ original watercolor paintings, each signed by the athlete.
Fiorentino has also painted presidents; his portrait of George H.W. Bush currently hangs in his presidential library. Fiorentino has met nine presidents as well as assorted world leaders, including Mikhail Gorbachev, Buzz Aldrin, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Congressman John Lewis.
Fiorentino’s works, including landscapes, portraits, seascapes, still life, and wildlife have been showcased in museums, galleries, and private collections across the globe. Fiorentino’s work has been featured in national products including trading cards for Topps, Upper Deck, and Kelloggs. A member of the New Jersey Watercolor Society, Fiorentino also holds memberships in the Garden State Watercolor Society, American Watercolor Society, National Watercolor Society, Society of Animal Artists, and Artists For Conservation. James is also a trustee of the Raptor Trust of NJ and D & R Greenway Land Trust.
James Fiorentino
Visionary Arts Inc.
+1 908-782-0509
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