Fifty years ago,as a child,Bromley was a keen baseball player. And he was good at it,he said,despite failing at most other sports.
Artist David Bromley in his Daylesford studio with his paintings of Chris Lane.Yuge Bromley
“I could catch the ball reasonably well,I could throw a long way,and when batting I could crack it out of the ground,” he said.
“I’d played a bit of cricket and hadn’t had a lot of luck hitting the ball,but for some reason with a baseball bat I just about couldn’t miss.”
Chris Lane was killed in a drive-by shooting in the US.Reuters
Bromley thought of the joy of playing the sport while painting portraits of Lane,22,who was by a stranger as the baseballer jogged in Duncan,Oklahoma. He had moved to the United States to pursue his baseball dream.
,is donating the works to Essendon Baseball Club,where Lane played for most of his life. But mostly,he said was struck by the mindlessness of Lane’s death.
“It was so random. It could have been anyone,” Bromley said. “And to be 22,with his full life ahead of him ...”
Essendon Baseball Club president Tony Cornish didn’t know Bromley had played the sport when he asked the six-time Archibald Prize finalist to create artworks commemorating Lane.
Cornish was also unaware of another uncanny emotional link.
In 2001,Bromley’s brother,Paul,also died tragically after an attack overseas. He was heavily drugged by a couple he had just met and robbed in a Jakarta hotel room.
Paul,43,was flown to an Adelaide hospital,where he died two days later.
David Bromley,who was very close to his brother,remembered the helplessness and intense grief.
“I think I cried for about six months,” he said.
Bromley never met Lane,but said his heart went out to his family when he heard about his death.
He said that while painting the large images – in oils and acrylics on board – of Lane that he was “overwhelmed by the sheer waste”.
David Bromley (right) with brother Paul as children.Supplied
“I figured,‘What would he be doing now?’ It just seemed,as I was painting him,that he really was a beautiful guy.”
Bromley will hand over the 2.6-metre and 1.4-metre portraits,and scenes of baseball players at the opening of the Essendon club’s new $1.6 million little league baseball diamond – named Chris Lane Field – on Saturday.
Later this year,a two-metre bronze statue of Lane,also crafted by Bromley,will be placed next to the arched entrance to the field in Strathmore Heights,in Melbourne’s north-west.
“The whole story really touched me,” Bromley said when asked why he donated the works.
The new Chris Lane Field in Strathmore Heights.Supplied
“I have kids of my own and I saw what happened to Chris. It was so terrible,someone cut down in their prime and I thought it would be good to support his project.”
Lane’s sister,Andrea Kane,said she would thank Bromley in person at the opening at 6pm on Saturday and would also involve Chris’ parents,Donna and Peter,and his sisters,nieces and nephews.
Kane said the paintings,which include a portrait for the family to keep,were a reminder of Chris’s love for baseball,and would help future generations talk about him.
“To have an artist of David’s stature contributing reminds us that what happened to Christopher touched a lot of people,” Kane said. “They’re just gorgeous pieces.”
Cornish,a club member for 40 years who knew Lane well and describes him as an athletic,respectful young man and rising baseball player,said he cries when talking about Bromley’s gifts.
“The fact that such an elite artist would put so much effort into a grassroots sporting club,just blows me away,” he said.
“It’s an incredible thing to do. And it just proves that there are good people out there.
“They’re going to keep Chris alive in everyone’s heart.”
