Terrence Fogarty

Summer ripens in a dust of light beneath Terrence Fogarty’s paint brush. Autumn comes alive with points of fire and color for an artist who turns dabs of oil paint into ultra-realistic artwork that hangs in art collections and sports halls of fame, including the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. 

Terrence, who lives with his wife Karen and daughter Elizabeth in Victoria, Minnesota, was born March 30, 1960. He grew up on the east side of St. Paul, a lively and diverse Minnesota city where memories of attending events with his father inspired his love of sports.  After graduating from St. Paul Johnson High School in 1978, he focused on art at Southwest Minnesota State University. The opening night of his 1982 senior art exhibit featured large paintings of boxers down for the count; the crowd of art lovers puffing cigars and enjoying tapes of classic Joe Louis-era fights played through a vintage console radio.

Many early Fogarty paintings were commissioned by sports memorabilia companies, such as the Danbury Mint and the Hamilton Collection. These pieces had an illustrative quality and provided good opportunities for a young artist, but left scant room for creativity. As Fogarty’s work progressed, the art became more original – and more personal.  Among those early pieces that caught the imaginations of collectors were depictions of ballparks and sports arenas. The painting “Mariucci Arena” was a novel and exciting view of a fabled Minneapolis hockey venue. The piece had no precedent, and remains one of Fogarty’s more sought and valuable prints.

Precision work with pencil, paint

Terrence Fogarty’s paintings can take many months to complete. That’s because painstaking research is the foundation of his art. For example, if a work requires a barn in the background, Fogarty will head out with a camera to capture a barn in the exact lighting that he envisions for the painting. Fogarty also utilizes models in a similar way to Norman Rockwell, an artist who would stage scenes with models and record the details with a camera.  The studio work starts when Fogarty stretches up a canvas and begins to meticulously sketch his composition with a pencil. It might be two weeks before paint hits the canvas.  The artist prefers oil paint, because the medium produces rich, vibrant colors and the opportunity to work with paint that stays wet for a long time. The result sparks scrutiny. Brush strokes become evident only upon close examination, because the paint is thinned, then applied with great detail.  Fogarty’s ability to capture our emotional attachment to sports is a hallmark of his work. This is not cookie-cutter sports art. The scenes that Fogarty puts on canvas are unique.

The artist completes only five or six works annually, although limited edition reproductions enable his works to reach a wider audience. Yet you will not find Fogarty’s paintings reproduced on many commercial products. He limits reproductions of his work to about 600 or 700 copies. Such scarcity of prints, coupled with Fogarty’s reputation as one of the world’s premier sports artists, means his sold-out prints can attract thousands of dollars on the secondary market.

The artist is commissioned by professional, collegiate and amateur sports organizations to create commemorative paintings. Commissioning an original painting offers clients a unique opportunity to market and sell copies of the painting for fund raising purposes. Fogarty’s clients ultimately possess  both an original piece by the noted artist and the opportunity to recoup the commission cost. This can generate funds for scholarships, building and other projects.  Private commissions are less frequent. When these occur, the work is usually done in pencil. Fogarty’s work in pencil is not a step back in prestige, however. In fact, many pencil drawings have been commissioned to honor an array of sports and popular figures. Commissioning a drawing is a wise choice if the client intends to limit reproductions.

Notable Works

• The original painting "Life of a Legend" depicting Mickey Mantle's career sold for $88,500 at Guernsey's Auction of Mantle memorabilia on December 8, 2003 in New York. The painting had been a fixture at the Mick's restaurant on Central Park West for years, and was described in the auction catalog as, "One of the most unique documentations of the career of a sports legend ever created."

• In 1986, Hall of Famer Dave Winfield commissioned a painting by Fogarty to commemorate the Toronto Blue Jays first division crown. The painting, "Jays Clinch East" sold for $38,000 at the Conn Smythe  Sports Celebrities Dinner in Toronto. Proceeds benefited the Easter Seal Society.

• Fogarty has been commissioned to create art for historic sporting events that include the 1988 America’s Cup Yacht Race, New York Yankee Jim Abbott’s 1993 no-hitter, the Minnesota Twins’ 40th Anniversary Season, and the 2004 National Hockey League All-Star Game.

• Corporate clients (partial list):  Jokerit HC-Helsinki,Finland, University of Vermont Athletics, USA Hockey, Ohio State University, Pheasants Forever Wildlife Organization, Chrysler Motors Corporation, CBS Columbia Records, Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Milwaukee Brewers and Minnesota Twins, University of Minnesota, the Hamilton Collection, the Danbury Mint, Minnesota Wild professional hockey team, the Hobey Baker Award, Tim Horton's restaurants and TCF Bank.