Rockwell & the Shinjin: Celebrating Baseball and the Red Sox

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Official Website: Rockwell & the Shinjin: Celebrating Baseball and the Red Sox
Occurs at: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA)
Location: 465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA map
Phone:(617) 267-9300
Date: Tuesday, April 8, 2008 - Sunday, July 20, 2008
Hours: Open seven days a week, the MFA’s hours are Saturday through Tuesday, 10 a.m. – 4:45 p.m.; Wednesday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 9:45 p.m.
In/Outdoor: Indoor
Cost: $$ see below

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), will cheer on the 2007 World Series Champion Red Sox with an installation that opens Tuesday, April 8, Opening Day at Fenway Park. Rockwell and the Shinjin: Celebrating Baseball and the Red Sox features the iconic Norman Rockwell painting The Rookie (The Red Sox Locker Room) (1957, Private Collection), on special loan to the Museum, as well as memorabilia lent by the Red Sox and private collectors, and vintage prints and photographs from the MFA’s own collection.

On view through July 20, Rockwell and the Shinjin will be displayed in the Ruth and Carl J. Shapiro Rotunda on the second floor of the Museum.

The installation pays tribute to Boston’s hometown team as it begins another exciting baseball season, having just returned from the opening away game in Tokyo. Enthusiastically received during that trip were two of the Red Sox rookies (“shinjin” in Japanese) from the 2007 team, Daisuke Matsuzaka (“Dice-K”) and Hideki Okajima, the first-ever Japanese players to join the Red Sox. Rockwell and the Shinjin also tips its cap to the past by showcasing The Rookie (The Red Sox Locker Room), Rockwell’s classic depiction of seasoned players giving the once-over to the novice on the team. This celebration of America’s favorite summer pastime captures on canvas the Red Sox locker room during spring training in 1957.

The painting, which appeared MFA Boston, Rockwell and the Shinjin on the cover of the March 2, 1957, Saturday Evening Post, features such veteran players as catcher Sammy White (at lower left of painting); pitcher Frank Sullivan (No. 18), on the bench next to outfielder Jackie Jensen; Ted Williams standing in the center; and infielder Bill Goodman at far right. Figuring prominently in the work, right of center, is “the rookie,” who was actually Sherman Safford, a high school athlete in Pittsfield, MA, asked to model for the painting.

Memorabilia from the 2004 and 2007 winning Red Sox teams will be highlighted in two cases in the installation, such as a 2004 World Series Championship ring, bases from both the 2004 and 2007 Series, Matsuzaka and Okajima home jerseys, a pair of “Dice-K’s” cleats lent by the Red Sox player, and baseballs. In addition, the installation features a copy of the March 2, 1957, Saturday Evening Post lent by Sherman Safford (“the rookie”) and two copy prints of him posing for Rockwell’s painting, and a baseball from Frank Sullivan, who will be inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame in November.

To complement The Rookie (The Red Sox Locker Room), two archival photographs by Verner Reed, Fenway Fans (1957, MFA) and Red Sox—Yankees Line-up (1957, MFA), taken the same year as Rockwell created his painting, will be included in the installation.

Cost

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General admission (which includes two visits in a 10-day period) is $17 for adults and $15 for seniors and students age 18 and older. Admission for students who are University Members is free, as is admission for children 17 years of age and younger during non-school hours.