INDIANAPOLIS—Before the Bell, a painting by Julie Snyder, a fine artist based in Tujunga, California, has been selected by a jury for inclusion in the Commitment to Excellence in Art and Sport exhibit at the National Art Museum of Sport at University Place on the campus of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
The exhibit, which includes 50 sport paintings, sculptures and photographs, will run until April 20, 2011. They were selected in a global competition for sports artists conducted by the Museum. There were entries from over twenty-six states and six countries with more than fifty-seven sports or sports related subjects represented.
In Before the Bell, a boxer is focused on the round and his opponent before the fight begins. Scottish-born Julie Snyder considers athletes her muse. Both artists and athletes admire those who master the body’s structure as they seek to win. Although she shows the form toned and disciplined when she paints, it is the focus and intention of the competitive sports figure that is most compelling to her.
Founded in 1959 in New York City by the late Germain G. Glidden, a portrait artist and national squash champion, the National Art Museum of Sport holds one of the nation’s largest collections of art depicting sport. Over 40 sports are represented in the over 900 paintings, sculptures and works on paper in the collection. Among the artists in the collection are Ogden Pliessner, Winslow Homer, George Bellows, Joe Brown, Ray Ellis, James Fiorentino and Alfred Boucher.
The Museum’s first home was in Madison Square Garden in New York. It has been in Indianapolis, “Amateur Sport Capital of the World,” since 1990.
The Commitment to Excellence in Art and Sport fine art competition and exhibit support the Museum’s two-pronged mission to encourage sports artists in their efforts to create sport art and to collect, preserve and share the best examples of sports art it can acquire.
The National Art Museum of Sport at 850 West Michigan Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202, is open free to the public from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. week days. For group tours and weekend hours, call 317.274.3627 or e-mail ecvarner@iupui.edu; more information at www.namos.iupui.edu.
A high resolution file of the artwork “Before the Bell” is available for download. Email me.
