It was said that Jim Huber painted the perfect picture through his spoken and written words captured through essays which enabled his audience to clearly see athletes and their accomplishments in vivid bright color. For Huber's 60th birthday his friend and journalistic colleague iconic American artist LeRoy Neiman repaid Jim with one of his own perfect artworks, an original mixed media work depicting Tiger Woods at the 1997 PGA Championship during his breakout season on the PGA Tour. Neiman who trained at Chicago's prestigious School of the Art Institute, known for his trademark handlebar mustache and his bright, impressionistic portrayals of the world's top sporting events was a regular at major golf events as evidenced in his acclaimed 1992 coffee table book, BIG TIME GOLF. It was only natural that Neiman would appear at Winged Foot just outside New York City for the 1997 PGA on Championship Sunday, August 17th. The focus of his sketching that day would be the 21 year old phenom Tiger Woods who was the number one name in Sports following his record breaking 12 stroke triumph at the Masters earlier that year. Neiman's original art (13 X 19, which has been framed to 20 X 26) that day captured Woods in his traditional Sunday red shirt with driver in hand on the 446 yard par 4 first hole. The bottom right hand corner features the signature of LeRoy Neiman '97 signing off on his finished work of art. The careers which intersected that day of artist, Neiman and golfer Woods continued to escalate over the next decade plus with Neiman being acclaimed as the top sports artist and Woods notching 14 Majors and 10 PGA Player of the Year honors.
Accompanying this lot is 5 X 6 1/4 note penned in black sharpie, on artists sketch paper to Jim Huber that reads "Happy 60th You Know Jim heading into this decade you have a scorecard in the sixtees to shoot for." Signed simply from friend to friend Leroy '04". James Spence Authentication has reviewed both signatures of LeRoy Neimann in this lot and provides their letter of authenticity.
The value of LeRoy Neiman original artwork with its popularity and scarcity has been well established in both the golf collecting and art collecting worlds. This value has only escalated in the recent months with the passing of the renowned artist.It is our honor to offer this treasured cornerstone of the Huber collection to our bidders.
This Lot is Part of the Jim Huber Collection.
The Golf Auction is pleased to have been selected to auction off the Jim Huber Collection. Jim Huber was an Emmy-winning broadcaster whose essays on the human dimension of sports were a staple on CNN during his nearly three decades with Turner Broadcasting. He passed away in January 2012 from acute leukemia. Jim most recently worked for Turner Sports' TNT network, covering golf and the NBA. Huber's reporting garnered many awards, including six “Sportscaster of the Year” awards from The Associated Press.
Jim Huber memorial video: http://youtu.be/fqBE-zeip7s
Huber's collection was amassed over many years while commentating on the various sports he participated in throughout his life. He said, “I want to tell a story," and he had a way of commanding your attention while telling his stories. He received an Emmy for “Olympic Park Bombing,” his essay on the bombing at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He wrote many other essays, and was also the author of three books. The first, The Babes of Winter, discusses hockey in the Deep South. His memoir, A Thousand Goodbyes, is a personal story about his father’s dying months and their relationship. His most recent book, Four Days in July, recounted Tom Watson’s failed run at winning the 2009 British Open at age 59.
In Jim Huber's memory, The Golf Auction will donate 5% of the gross sale price realized from the Huber collection to leukemia research