ALI, MUHAMMAD ORIGINAL ARTWORK BY IDA LIBBY DENSGROVE (1976-CARTER HEARING)

JoSportsInc

Regular price $2,500.00

On June 17, 1966, at about 2:30 AM, two black males entered the Lafayette Bar and Grill in Paterson, NJ, and started shooting. The bartender and one male customer were killed instantly. A badly-wounded female customer died almost a month later, while a third customer survived the attack, despite being shot in the head and losing the sight in one eye. Carter and a companion, John Artis, were brought to the scene and questioned extensively before being released. There was little physical evidence, and no eyewitness identified Carter or Artis as the killers. However, several months later, two petty criminals named Alfred Bello and Dexter Bradley - who had been near the Lafayette that same night identified the two black males that they claimed to have seen carrying weapons outside the bar as Carter and Artis. This, plus the identification of Carter's car by another witness, and the presence in Carter's car of ammunition similar to that used in the murders, convinced an all-white jury that Carter and Artis were the killers. Both men were convicted and sentenced to life in prison. In 1976 John Artis and Rubin "Hurrican" Carter" were granted a new trial, but were again convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. Eventually, the convictions would be thrown out and the State of New Jersey would not seek a new trial against the pair. Presented here is an oriignal courtroom sketching of Muhammad Ali done by Ida Libby Dengrove at the retrial of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter and John Artis in 1976. Here is a brief biography of Mrs. Dengrove. Ida Libby Dengrove was a New York courtroom artist who visualized the moods and faces of some notorious trials. A portrait painter away from court, Mrs. Dengrove worked as a courtroom illustrator for NBC-TV from 1973 to 1986. It allowed her to take her sketch pad where cameras were forbidden and capture the proceedings in her own distinctive style. Her pictorial reportage won two Emmy awards. She was cited for her newscast illustrations of the sensational Son of Sam trial of David Berkowitz (1977-78), and again for the Murder at the Met trial (1980-81) of Craig S. Crimmins, the stagehand convicted of slaying a young violinist, Helen Hagnes Mintiks. She sketched the principals in the trial of Jean Harris for the murder of Dr. Herman Tarnower and documented court appearances by John Lennon, Senator Harrison A. Williams Jr., John W. Hinckley Jr., John J. Gotti and Gen. William C. Westmoreland, to name a few. Some of her sketches, meant for television, also turned up on the front pages of newspapers. Mrs. Dengrove died in 2005.
This is the original artwork on artist paper done by Ms. Densgrove at the Carter-Artis retrial. Bold, beautiful image of Muhammad Ali. Signed in lower letf corner by the artist. Not creased or torn. Clean front and back. As nice as the day it was done. 13 1/2"x 16 3/4."

Size: 13 1/2 x 16 3/4

Condition: near mint