'Sacrebleu!' Just in Time for the World Series

All Amelie Mancini knew of baseball growing up in France originated in the scenes of Hollywood movies. Now, Mancini finds herself more passionate about America’s favorite pastime than even most Americans.
“I watch it, I read about it, I follow it,” said Mancini, a 28-year-old artist based in Greenpoint. On Tuesday, Mancini celebrated the launch of her first solo show at the Yashar Gallery with an exhibition entitled “Sacrebleu! Napoleon Would Have Made A Fine Shortstop.” It features — appropriately enough — seven portraits of legendary baseball players. The timing of the show could not be better: After the San Francisco Giants won the World Series on Monday evening Brooklynites will have to get their baseball fix elsewhere. So, why not an art gallery?
Though baseball great Babe Ruth was an obvious first choice for Mancini, she mostly took an intuitive approach while selecting her seven subjects.
“I don’t really plan ahead,” said Mancini, who started off her series flipping through old baseball books. “I pick a player without knowing really what interests me.”
The seven she chose weren’t necessarily the most beloved players in baseball history. Mancini was drawn in more by the melancholy of Roger Maris’s smile than by his stellar playing, for example. She learned later of Maris’s aversion to fame and the public anger he faced for breaking Babe Ruth’s home run record.
“I think it really showed in his face,” said Mancini. “You can guess what happened.”
Jackie Robinson, the first African-American to play Major League Baseball, impressed Mancini with his defiant look directed straight into the camera. “You had to be brave to do what he did,” Mancini said.

As a French expatriate, Mancini admittedly didn’t face the prejudice that Robinson did, but she could relate to his plight of being an outsider trying to belong.

Her series of paintings reflects a uniquely French perspective of baseball. Mancini’s own love for the sport came during her exploration of American culture after immigrating a few years ago. “Baseball is the essentially American sport,” said Mancini, now a Mets fan.

The sport may have seemed slow going at first, but Mancini grew increasingly intrigued the more she learned about it. She still recalls the first baseball game she attended at Shea Stadium three years ago, the thrill of walking to her seat, how she was overwhelmed by the crowd, the colors and the vast field.
“There’s so much tension, actually,” Mancini said. “It’s very psychological. You don’t see that at first.”

Taking a deeper look into Mancini’s paintings similarly reveals a hidden truth. “I’m not a baseball painter. I’m not painting for baseball fans,” Mancini said. “There’s an eeriness about [the paintings] that I think goes beyond the sport,”
Stories of dark, twisted childhoods, expressions of morality and humility, and reflections on the absurdities of life lurk in Mancini’s paintings.

Babe Ruth bats beneath a grotesque mask, time stops as a baseball is suspended in mid-air next to Maris’s forlorn gaze, Robinson smiles above fiery red marble, and the doors of fame are firmly shut to Harvey Haddix as he earnestly throws a pitch.
Like many of Mancini’s paintings, the construction of space is defined more by color than by the traditional perspective. Serious themes mingle comfortably with the playful.
Each portrait is composed of six small canvasses assembled into a larger painting and is a study of a baseball hero at the height of his greatness. The series includes portraits of Babe Ruth, Roger Maris, Sandy Koufax, Ty Cobb, Harvey Haddix, Tom Seaver and Jackie Robinson. So far, the crowd hasn’t agreed on a favorite.
“I don’t think there’s one that stands out. They work as a group,” Mancini said. “They all have something interesting and different.”
Mancini herself hadn’t seen all seven at once until the premiere of her exhibit. Limited space at her Greenpoint studio had allowed her to see only two or three of her paintings at time.
Regardless, Mancini seems to have a penchant for painting according to a running theme. For her next project, Mancini will paint a series inspired by a zoo in her hometown of Lyon. Earlier, Mancini completed a series of paintings depicting people at the beach.

See the exhibit
“Sacrebleu! Napoleon Would Have Made A Fine Shortstop” runs from Nov. 2 to 24 at Yashar Gallery found at 276 Greenpoint Avenue, Building 8 ground floor. Gallery Hours; Saturday-Sunday 1-5 p.m. and by appointment. www.ameliemancini.com.