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# Hank Aaron

National Portrait Gallery

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                      -     DetailsRelatedObject Details- Artist
- Ross R. Rossin, born 1964
- Sitter
- Henry ("Hank") Aaron, 5 Feb 1934 - 22 Jan 2021
- Exhibition Label
- Born Mobile, Alabama
- “Hammerin’ Hank” Aaron will be remembered as one of the greatest players in major league baseball history. Scouted at sixteen, when the United States was still largely segregated, he came up through the Negro League and joined the Indianapolis Clowns in 1952. He subsequently signed with the Milwaukee (later, Atlanta) Braves, for whom he debuted in 1954. He emerged as a tremendous asset to that ball club and drove the team to a World Series victory over the New York Yankees in 1957. Aaron was named the MVP that same year.
- A perennial All-Star, Aaron was remarkably consistent during his twenty-three-year major-league career. He hit around fifty home runs every season—and always ranked near the top of the hitting statistics. Known to generate tremendous bat speed with his extraordinary reflexes, he broke Babe Ruth’s seemingly impregnable record of 714 career home runs in 1974, when he was forty. The accomplishment was widely celebrated as a sign of racial progress in the New South, but many of the hurdles remained. Ruth routinely traveled in luxury, while Aaron was fortunate if he could ride in the front of a bus.
- In his 1992 autobiography, Aaron wrote, “I never doubted my ability, but when you hear all your life you’re inferior, it makes you wonder if the other guys have something you’ve never seen before. If they do, I’m still looking for it.” When Aaron was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1982, his home run mark stood at 755. There was no denying Aaron’s exceptional skill with a baseball bat. “Trying to sneak a pitch past Hank Aaron is like trying to sneak a sunrise past a rooster,” quipped Curt Simmons, a former pitcher for the Phillies. Following Aaron’s retirement in 1976, he led an estimable post-baseball career doing charitable and civic work in Atlanta.
- The Bulgarian-born artist Ross Rossin met Aaron in Atlanta through the city’s former mayor, Andrew Young, whose portrait he also painted. In 2015, Hank Aaron was honored by the National Portrait Gallery as a Portrait of a Nation Prize Recipient.
- Nacido en Mobile, Alabama
- Hank “el Martillo” Aaron será recordado como uno de los mejores jugadores en la historia del béisbol de grandes ligas. Reclutado a los 16 años, cuando en Estados Unidos predominaba la segregación racial, se inició en la Liga Negra y firmó contrato con los Payasos de Indianápolis en 1952. En 1954 debutó con los Bravos de Milwaukee (luego Atlanta) y se convirtió en un recurso formidable, impulsando al equipo a la victoria sobre los Yankees de Nueva York en la Serie Mundial de 1957. Ese año lo seleccionaron como Jugador Más Valioso.
- Figura perenne en los juegos de estrellas, Aaron fue muy consistente durante su carrera de 23 años en las grandes ligas. Con casi 50 jonrones por temporada, siempre estuvo en los primeros lugares en las estadísticas de bateo. Sus excelentes reflejos le permitían generar velocidades de bateo enormes, y en 1974, ya con 40 años, rompió el récord de 714 jonrones establecido por Babe Ruth, que parecía inalcanzable. Su logro fue muy celebrado como signo del progreso racial en el “nuevo sur” estadounidense, pero muchos obstáculos perduraban. Ruth solía viajar rodeado de lujos, mientras que Aaron tenía suerte si lograba viajar en la sección frontal de un autobús.
- En su autobiografía de 1992 Aaron escribió: “Nunca dudé de mi talento, pero cuando escuchas toda tu vida que eres inferior, te preguntas si los demás tienen algo que tú no has logrado ver. Si es así, todavía lo ando buscando”. Cuando fue instalado en el Salón de la Fama en 1982, su total de jonrones era 755. No cabe duda de su maestría excepcional al bate. “Tratar de agarrar desprevenido a Hank Aaron con una bola es como tratar de agarrar desprevenido a un gallo con un amanecer”, bromeó Curt Simmons, antiguo lanzador de los Phillies. Luego de su retiro en 1976, Aaron se dedicó a una admirable labor caritativa y cívica en Atlanta.
- El artista de origen búlgaro Ross Rossin conoció a Aaron en Atlanta a través del ex alcalde de la ciudad, Andrew Young, cuyo retrato también pintó. En 2015, Aaron fue honrado por la National Portrait Gallery con el premio Retrato de una Nación.
- Provenance
- The artist; Delta Air Lines
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Delta Airlines, Inc.; 2015 Portrait of a Nation Prize Recipient
- 2010
- Object number
- NPG.2012.98
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Copyright
- © 2010 Ross R. Rossin
- Type
- Painting
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Stretcher: 121.9 × 121.9cm (48 × 48")
- Frame: 129.9 × 129.9 × 7cm (51 1/8 × 51 1/8 × 2 3/4")
- Place
- United States\Georgia\Fulton\Atlanta
- See more items in
- National Portrait Gallery Collection
- Location
- Currently not on view
- National Portrait Gallery
- Topic
- Henry ("Hank") Aaron: Male
- Henry ("Hank") Aaron: Sports and Recreation\Athlete\Baseball
- Henry ("Hank") Aaron: Presidential Medal of Freedom
- Portrait
- Record ID
- npg_NPG.2012.98
- Metadata Usage (text)
- Usage conditions apply
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm479f051a4-b9b6-4378-bd3a-e16cd42fc2c4
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