Diamond Kings artist ‘painted the whole history of baseball’

When Marq Evans began sorting through his collection of baseball cards with his son in the spring of 2022, one series of cards stood out.

Highly unique, beautifully illustrated and instantly recognizable, the Donruss Diamond Kings cards injected Evans with a dose of nostalgia, taking him back to his childhood collecting cards.

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As much as Evans enjoyed the cards of greats such as Bo Jackson and Ken Griffey Jr., he never gave much thought to the cards’ creation.

What was the story of the artist?

A visit to Dick Perez’s website led Evans down a rabbit hole. It turned out the man Evans only knew as the artist behind the iconic cards was the official artist of the Baseball Hall of Fame for more than two decades, logging thousands of baseball paintings.

“He painted the whole history of baseball,” Evans told cllct.

Quickly, Evans realized he might have found the subject of his next documentary film.

Evans’ “The Diamond King” was released in June on Tubi, exploring the history of baseball through the lens of the life and career of Perez.

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In addition to interviews with Perez, Evans expertly weaves in direct-to-camera narration, written by Joe Posnanski and delivered by John Ortiz, against a backdrop of Perez’s work to conjure the ultimate “how can you not be romantic about baseball?” vibe.

“I understand the fandom. I learned how to say something about a sport that I love to no end,” Perez said in the film.

Perez, who was born in San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico, in 1940, immigrated to New York City at the age of 6.

When Evans asked Perez whether he would like to be remembered as a great artist or for his contributions to the history of baseball, he quickly answered: As an artist.

Baseball was the subject matter which allowed his work to be seen by the masses.

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“Picasso doesn’t have a World Series ring. Matisse doesn’t have a World Series ring. I have a World Series ring,” said Perez, who was awarded the ring as the official artist for the Philadelphia Phillies in their 2008 championship season.

Still, he will forever be best known as the artist of the popular cards from the 1980s and 1990s — as Evans says, the mass production and popularity of these cards likely make Perez one of the most reproduced artists in history. He’s certainly the most influential card artist in history.

The film begins with shots of Perez signing autographs at the National Sports Collectors Convention, showing a slew of fans — largely children of the 1980s and 1990s — approaching his table to pay their respects.

“I never got any feedback at the time, but, boy, after you guys grew up …” Perez joked to one fan.

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“It was like magic,” one fan recalled to Perez, describing the feeling of opening a pack and seeing one of the Diamond King cards.

“If you’re doing a landscape painting, that’s easy,” Evans said. “You can go sit in that part of the world, and just look at the landscape and paint it. You can’t really do that with sports. You need imagination.”

This is a common thread throughout the film, not only as it relates to Perez as an artist, but what that says about the beauty of the game of baseball, which Evans says is uniquely suited to depiction through art.

“What Dick does, is paint baseball as it has not existed on the field, but exists in his imagination,” John Thorn, the MLB’s official historian, says in the film. “This is not mere portraiture, this is love on canvas.”

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Describing the process Perez undertook prior to the advent of the internet, Evans says he would go through stacks and stacks of books to find and scan images in order to create a composite upon which to base his painting.

“I just love that, the process of the art and that research and care and dedication was so inspiring to me as a different kind of artist,” Evans said.

The goal of the film, Evans says, is to expose more people to the wonders of Perez’ work.

“Introducing Dick to people that weren’t aware of him has been my favorite part, and also gratifying for him,” Evans said. As far as the target audience for the documentary, he hopes it stretches beyond even baseball fans.

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Citing Perez’s triumphs over hardships early in his life — his father died when he was just 5, and he was sent to New York alone a year later — Evans explained, “I don’t think you need to be a baseball fan. You can be a fan of art …. Or a fan of a story of a guy who has an inspiring story about reaching the pinnacle of their profession.”

Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct, the premier company for collectible content.