Portrait: Hall of Famer Bill Dudley
Object number2017.65.6
Artist
Dennis Karchner
Manufacturer
Crescent Cardboard Company
Date2009
MediumPencil; Paperboard; Adhesive tape
Credit LineGift of Arthur Joseph Rooney, Jr.
DescriptionBlack and white pencil drawing on rectangular white paperboard. Waist-length portrait of man in three-quarter view facing slightly proper left. Figure is leaning forward resting his proper right elbow on his bent proper right leg. Figure wears Pittsburgh Steelers football uniform with player number on chest and leather football helmet. Gray background. White border around drawn image.DimensionsHeight x Width x Depth: 20.063 × 15.063 × 0.125 in. (51 × 38.3 × 0.3 cm)SignedArtist signature in pencil in bottom left corner of drawn image "© KARCHNER 2009".
InscriptionsFigure wears football uniform with "35" on chest.
MarksReverse has blue text at bottom center "Crescent / ILLUSTRATION BOARD / Hot Press Surface / No. 200 / Heavy Weight / A PRODUCT OF / CRESCENT CARDBOARD / COMPANY".
Historical NotesMore than 30 years ago, Art Rooney, Jr. and his wife Kay visited the Circle Art Gallery in San Diego, California. By the time they left, a new passion had been born. Unable to buy a seascape that had sold while they shopped, Rooney purchased a portrait instead. Painted by Merv Corning, the work featured Cincinnati Bengals’ wide receiver Isaac Curtis, a player Rooney admired. Over the next several years Rooney returned to the gallery while in San Diego on scouting trips or at Steelers’ games and bought more of Corning’s art. Eventually Corning called him, beginning a friendship and artistic partnership that lasted until the artist passed away in 2006. Rooney gradually transitioned from a buyer of art, to commissioning specific pieces. He began to collect what he knew and loved – paintings that depicted members of the great Steelers’ teams of the 1970s. Rooney had scouted many of these players and had come to know and respect them as athletes, but also as men. Over time Art Rooney’s collection has broadened to include pieces by two other artists and to represent his life, his work, and the special relationships he developed through football. Label TextBorn in 1935, just two years after his father founded the Steelers, Art Rooney, Jr. grew up with the team. There are certain players from his youth that Rooney developed a special affection for or relationship with – Dudley is one. An All American at Virginia, the Steelers picked him first in the 1942 draft. He excelled in 1946, winning the Triple Crown of NFL rushing, interception, and punt return titles. Dudley was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1946.
Related person
William McGarvey Dudley
Collector
Arthur Joseph Rooney Jr.
Related institution
Pittsburgh Steelers
On View
Not on view
Ron Mahoney
Dennis Karchner
