Railroads and the American Industrial Landscape
Ted Rose Photographs and Paintings          

(Milwaukee, WI) The Haggerty Museum of Art, Marquette University and the Center for Railroad Photography & Art, Madison, WI will present Railroads and the American Industrial Landscape: Ted Rose Photographs and Paintings from March 9-May 29, 2006 at the Haggerty Museum of Art in Milwaukee.

The exhibition, curated by Haggerty Museum director Curtis Carter, will include over 50 watercolor paintings and photographs of American industrial settings in the twentieth century.  The show will offer viewers the opportunity to experience the nobility and beauty of railroads and their associated industries through the eye of Milwaukee native Ted Rose.

In addition to his paintings, Rose’s photographs will also be included in the exhibition.  Through the generosity of Polly Rose, and Ted Rose Studio of Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Center for Railroad Photography & Art has acquired these remarkable images from the 1950’s and 1960’s. These photographs provide a compelling documentation of the end of steam railroading in North America.  The Haggerty exhibition marks the first time that Rose’s remarkable body of photography and paintings have been shown together.

Ted Rose was born and raised in Milwaukee, WI.  For Rose railroads were always a favorite subject of study  As he wrote in his book, In the Traces (2002), “The American place is often a railroad place, man-made and human scale--urban, industrial, or rural.” His passion for railroads began when he took his first train ride in 1949 to a railroad fair in Chicago. In the mid-1950s, a teen-aged Rose traveled throughout the United States and Canada, photographing and sketching in watercolor what he sensed was the twilight of the steam locomotive.

Rose graduated in 1962 with honors from the University of Illinois with a BFA in painting and minors in printmaking and history.  After graduating, he was drafted to the U.S. Army where he served one tour in Vietnam from 1963 to 1965.  After returning to the U.S., he worked briefly for the Chicago and North Western Rail Lines as a night brakeman.

Rose settled in Sante Fe, NM where he spent most of his career working as an independent graphic designer.  In 1983, after a 20 year hiatus, he returned to his love of painting.  Occasionally, he would use his early photographs as a reference for his painting.  

During the last few decades, railroads and heavy industry disappeared from many of the industrial centers of the U.S.  As early as the 1960s, these industries were fading.  Whereas other artists have depicted these landscapes in decline, Rose saw them very differently. His work testifies to the often-forgotten color, beauty and dynamism of American industry and work.  “I’m not much taken with pristine landscapes,” notes Rose.  “Bright clouds and blue sky makes me want to scream.  It’s hard for me to imagine a scene without man-made elements like telephone poles.”

By representing railroads and their built-environments with expressive colors and compelling compositions, Rose stakes a claim for industrial aesthetics, seeing in them a beauty as worthy as any found in nature.  That said, Rose’s work is neither saccharine nor dogmatic; it is emotive, contextual and sometimes jarring. His paintings and photographs engage the viewer to have a personal experience with industry and cause us to reflect upon its role in our shared heritage.

Rose’s work has been exhibited at the Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, MA, the Museum of New Mexico, and the California State Railroad Museum, Sacramento.  He was a signature member of the American Watercolor Society and the National Watercolor Society.  His work is included in the collections of the California State Railroad Museum, the Colorado Railroad Museum, and the Minnesota Transportation Museum.  He died in 2002 in New Mexico from cancer.

The Haggerty Museum of Art is located at North 13th St. and West Clybourn Avenue on the campus of Marquette University. Museum hours are Monday - Wednesday, Friday - Saturday, 10 am-4:30 p.m.; Thursday, 10 am-8 p.m.; and Sunday, noon-5 p.m.. Free parking is available in the Mary B. Finnigan Parking Lot (enter on 11th St. through Marquette Lot J). For more information on the Haggerty Museum call (414) 288-3657.
 
The Center for Railroad Photography & Art is a non-profit arts organization that preserves and presents outstanding images of railroading.  This emphasis on visual representations sets the Center apart from most other historic preservation organizations.   The Center’s publication, Railroad Heritage is provided to its members and it sponsors both an annual conference and a photography contest. Rather than maintain its own museum space, the Center collaborates with other institutions and scholars. The Center was incorporated in 1997 in Wisconsin and has 501c(3) tax-exempt status.  Individual and institutional gifts and memberships make its programs possible.  For more information:  www.railphoto-art.org