Leroy Neiman '75 Willie Mosconi signed "To Marty, Willie" ABC WideWorldofSports!

Description

Matted lithograph of original 1975 Leroy Neiman mixed media (ink & colored markers) drawing of Willie Mosconi pocket billiards exhibition videotaped by ABC-TV (see "
abc
" TV camera upper right) on Jan 17, 1975 at the New York Athletic Club for broadcast on Feb 16, 1975
Wide World of Sports
hosted by Howard Cosell. Willie's manager, Charles Ursitti, told me that Mosconi challenged
WWoS
producer Roone Arledge
*
to attempt Willie's famous "Butterfly" (3-cue ramp) trick shot, which he made! It is somewhat faded because of lack of UV-resistant glass in original frame (not received by myself), mostly in the yellow spectrum, as evidenced by comparison to the online images of the original art as shown. An art conservator contacted by myself responded that she would be forbidden by official industry constraints from restoration of the original coloring,
even though this is only a lithographic reproduction of the original art!
Buy-It-Now
buyer
of this item will receive both Nielsen-Bainbridge 19" x 25" black metal frame kits and 3 Sharpie sets of colored markers, the latter two sets unopened:
2 Precision black Ultra Fine Point Permanent Markers (opened)
4 Assorted Retractable Highlighters medium point - light red, pink, yellow & blue
8 Assorted Fluorescent Highlighters w/ large chisel point - 2 red, 2 yellow, 1 pink, green, blue, & purple
BIN
Buyer
may use the above extras to restore the original color as in photos 3 & 4, and frame the matted litho, either with a new acid-free matte or as-is (matte has 1/8" un-faded black border that was covered by former frame, and faded grayish-black predominant color exposed to sunlight because glass used in frame was not UV-resistant).
The first 2 photos are of the actual item for sale, the 2nd being a closeup of the faint pencil inscription "To Marty, Best Wishes, Willie" in the upper left corner (It's a customary practice of celebrities to omit their surname when inscribing signed gift items to friends & colleagues).
The 3rd - 5th photos are of the
original art
- litho by itself, framed, and the COA. (Items NOT INCLUDED)
The 6th - 10th photos are of the April 1975 issue of American Billiard Review newspaper showing the genesis of the Willie Mosconi exhibition event immortalized by Leroy Neiman:
(Item NOT INCLUDED)
6th photo of newspaper masthead
7th photo of address label over masthead for Mosconi's home delivery
8th photo of cover picture of Willie setting up his famous "Butterfly" (3-cue ramp) trick shot, with (L to R) his wife Flora, daughters Candace & Gloria in front row, prior to Roone Arledge's acceptance of Willie's challenge and resulting successful shot execution
9th photo of cover's bottom caption documenting Feb 16, 1975 telecast of abc's
Wide World of Sports
program of his exhibition taped Jan 17, 1975, when Leroy Neiman created his artwork of the event at the NY Athletic Club
10th photo of the whole newspaper cover
The 11th photo is the cropped picture of the event that became the cover of the May 14, 2011 Hunts Auction catalog of the Mosconi memorabilia auction compiled by his son Williiam, Jr., and the 12th photo is of the poster promoting the auction at the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame (NIASHF) museum in Chicago, IL.
(Items NOT INCLUDED)
The upper-most
Balabushka cue stick
on the pool table (which he used for shot-making**) in the event photo and shown on the poster was the highest selling item in the auction at ,000 + 15% buyer's premium! See Lot 352 in the link below, or go to it directly w/ the next link:
huntauctions.com/live/view_lots_items_list_closed.cfm?auction=32&start_number=301&last_number=436
huntauctions.com/live/imageviewer.cfm?auction_num=32&lot_num=352&lot_qual=&closed
Mouse swipe to highlight the above/below
links
, right click for drop-down menu, left click to select either Go To, or Edit/Copy\Edit/Paste link in your browser's address bar to then press Enter. Click on "View Item" to the left of each Lot # to see photo(s) & description, for the entire Mosconi collection in Lot 301 to Lot 436.
huntauctions.com/live/imageviewer.cfm?auction_num=32&lot_num=412&lot_qual=&closed
Lot 412 above included 4 of these
"
heavy stock prints of
Neiman
art."
*   In R. A. Dyer's 2008 book
The Hustler
&
The
Champ
-
Willie Mosconi,
Minnesota Fats, and The Rivalry That Defined Pool
on page 226, discussing their rivalry, "[participating in boorish hustlers tournaments] Fats claimed he was the greatest hustler, and so he became it. By contrast the great champion [Mosconi] spent the 1970s doing trick shots with Roone Arledge [on TV exhibitions], and nobody much cared....Who could blame him
[Mosconi] for wanting his vengeance?
"
** This was his favored cue, per the auction description, and would have been
the one he used when Leroy Neiman created his artwork
, as proven by both the newspaper & auction catalog covers, by comparison of the
cue butt sleeve inlays
in the cover photos to the photo of the cue in Lot 352 of the Hunt Auction. It should also be noted that the cover photos showing
Mosconi in a tuxedo, bowtie, & french cuffs conforms with Neiman's
depiction.
Shipping is USPS PM 2-day (or 3-day on w/e) Insured for purchase price.
BIN buyer
will receive PayPal refund of difference between charged and actual shipping cost if less.