The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA) will celebrate the Red Sox’s third World Series Championship in a decade by exhibiting Norman Rockwell’s “The Rookie (The Red Sox Locker Room)” before it heads to auction at Christie’s in New York on May 22. The museum will display the work for six days only, from April 29 through May 4.
Created in 1957, the painting depicts the Red Sox locker room during spring training in Sarasota, Florida. The work, which appeared on the cover of the March 2, 1957 “Saturday Evening Post,” has appeared on display at the MFA in 2005 and 2008, following the Red Sox’s World Series wins.
Malcolm Rogers, the Ann and Graham Gund Director at the MFA, said, “We are proud to celebrate our hometown team and Red Sox Nation by displaying a quintessential painting from one of New England and America’s most beloved artists, Norman Rockwell. Neighbors across the Fenway for over 100 years, the histories of the Red Sox and the MFA are inextricably linked.”
Rockwell, who lived in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, for the last 25 years of his life, is best known for his archetypical portrayals of American life as well as his cover illustrations for the “Saturday Evening Post.”
“The Rookie (The Red Sox Locker Room),” which is being offered by an anonymous owner, is expected to fetch between $20 million and $30 million.
