MAN BEHIND THE MASK

To the eye of the artist, no medieval jouster with visored helmet ever strode out on field of battle with more audacity than the man behind the catcher's mask at the ball park. In his characteristic gear he seems a crouching demigod, now pouncing with incredible agility for a play at the plate, now silently directing the campaign with his signals. His dramatic world, within the perimeter of home plate, is the center of the sensitive paintings on these pages by Philadelphia painter Thomas Meehan.

The crouching figure, Catcher at the Plate, is the man with "the tools of ignorance." baseball's nickname for his trappings.

The hot sun burns down on catcher and runner in Meehan's Waiting for a Decision at Home, a motionless moment of high tension.

Like a shimmering mosaic, Thomas Meehan's painting of the catcher behind the screen making a mighty stretch for a high one is a sensitive artist's impression of color and action in the ball park. His enthusiasm and knowledge of the game of baseball, combined with his eye for color and design, bring a fresh excitement to these paintings of America's national game.

THREE PHOTOS

THOMAS MEEHAN