M. Niederle - Cartoon R. Laver

Product detailed description

Condition: Very good

Dimensions: 10.8 cm x 14.5 cm

Authentic caricature of tennis player Rod Laver by artist Marcel Niederle. Created in ink and pencil on cardboard, mounted on colored cardboard. On the reverse side there is a stamp and description documenting the authorship and provenance. Rod Laver is one of the greatest tennis players of all time and a tennis legend. Marcel Niederle was a Czechoslovak artist specializing in caricatures. The caricature represents sports art and a humorous interpretation of a famous personality. An ideal piece for sports art collectors and tennis historians. A valuable commemorative item combining art with sports history.

Marcel Niederle, born June 3, 1898, was a Czech artist, academic painter, and teacher at UMPRUM in Prague. From 1917 to 1922, he was a student of M. Švabinský. He specialized in drawings from all branches of sport. He achieved great recognition in the 1920s, especially overseas, where he worked for four years at the famous magazine Sport Illustrated. He died in Prague in 1990. The author still has many fans among collectors around the world. 

Rod Laver, MBE (born August 9, 1938) is a former Australian tennis player considered one of the best tennis players of all time. He won most of his awards and tournament victories as an amateur before the start of the Open era. However, he also proved his quality in tournaments with professionals after 1968. He became famous for his 1969 achievement of winning all four Grand Slam tournaments in a single season – Wimbledon, the French Open, the Australian Open, and the US Open. He played before the ATP rankings were established, so his ratings are only "subjective" – he was rated the world's best tennis player as an amateur in 1961 and 1962 and then again at the beginning of the Open era as a professional in 1968 and 1969. He won 39 ATP singles tournaments and 5 Grand Slams in the Open era, and another 6 Grand Slams in singles before the Open era. The main stadium of the Melbourne Park tennis complex, where the Australian Open Grand Slam tournament is held, is named after Rod Laver. He also has a tournament named after him, the Laver Cup, in which a team representing Europe competes against a team representing the rest of the world. The idea was conceived by Roger Federer, and the first tournament took place from September 22 to 24, 2017, in Prague.