When you’re the leading the scorer on the world’s most powerful club, you’re going to be very famous. Erling Haaland knows this truth first hand. But the tall Norwegian is even more than that, he’s also now the record holder for most goals scored in a single Premier League season.
This vaults him into a higher plane of superstardom, and with that interstellar travel comes…some fans who are, uhm, uh, very unique. Artist Rory O’Keefe said is himself:
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“Erling Haaland is my muse. I’ve painted him over 100 times in many different ways.”
As you can see from the Instagram reel posted at his page, Rory Paints, he is not kidding. O
‘Keefe has depicted Haaland in numerous different styles and genres.
There is a reimagination as a Vincent Van Gogh portrait, or in the vein of Barack Obama’s “Hope” campaign poster, or in the Renaissance style of a Madonna and Christ child.
Don’t forget Erling Haaland as an image in a church stained-glass window, or, and this is my personal favorite from the catalogue-
Johannes Vermeer’s immortally iconic “Girl With A Pearl Earring.”
Oh and don’t forget the classic Santa Claus Coca-Cola advertisement.
Rory, who is self-taught, is very self-effacing about all this too- joking that a restraining order against him will soon be forthcoming.
But I strongly suggest you check out his work, not jus the Erling Haaland paintings. Go here for more.
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“you may live to see man-made horrors beyond your comprehension,” Rory adds.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now. Follow the website on Twitter and Instagram.