Offered here is a large, beautifully hand-painted illustration! The colors are rich and vibrant, and the composition and style sport a brilliant art deco flair. When framed and hung on a wall, this work of art will turn heads—and its actually quite famous, too.  This is the original art used to create the official poster for the 1997 US Open held at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland. Approximately 4000 posters were sold.

Commissioned to create this illustration for the US Open poster, Byron Huff (who also painted the original art for the poster for the 1986 US Open at Shinnecock Hills) choose to combine elements of the Congressional Country Club into his scene. He also included an artistic "tip of the hat" to three early golfing US presidents—Wilson, Harding, and Taft as drawn in the background—and with good reason.  Congressional lists five US Presidents among its founding life members (Wilson, Harding, Taft, Coolidge, and Hoover). Furthermore, Congressional has continued to be frequented by additional US Presidents (such as Eisenhower, JFK, Nixon, Ford, GHW Bush, Clinton, Obama) and other elected officials.

Once the illustration was complete, it was digitized and the perimeter lettering and shading to the building were added to create the official poster.  An official poster is also included as part of this lot.

Executed in what appears to be gouache, the illustration itself measures 29" high and 21 1/2" wide. The board on which the illustration resides measures 40" high by 30" tall.  The artist taped a border of brown paper around all sides of the board to provide a place to doodle or try out an idea.  This paper easily comes off as shown at the top, which is blue. 

There are also different paint colors on the board but well away from the subject matter. These small color samples near the edges of the boarder were put there by the artist to check the color, to make sure he would be pleased with his selection.

To prepare this brilliant item display, a small portion of the excess board can be trimmed away prior to framing, and the mat can be cut and positioned so that an appropriate white border would remain around the subject matter.  Then again, a person could simply have the mat cut to fit the existing board, with an appropriate opening for the image and a small white border.

This wonderful work has been preserved, for many years now, in a drawer designed for storing large pieces of art. It remains just as it was when it was completed.  Talk about perfect condition!