Prints from the past at Against the Wall Gallery
Jim Rosowski walked into a print shop in Tucson looking for a present for his wife. After helping the owner move a refrigerator and a table and clean the shop, he walked out with not only a free William Hogarth print but a new hobby that would last the rest of his life.
Rosowski, who was a graduate student at the time and is now a part-time professor of biology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, began working at the shop not long after.
“(The owner) had primarily natural history prints, and since I was a biologist, I found those particularly interesting,” Rosowski said. “I started collecting them, and I've been doing it ever since."
Some of the best pieces from his collection are on display at Against the Wall Gallery, 6220 Havelock Ave., through Friday. Rosowski was framing prints from his collection for “The Blue Heron,” a nightclub, gallery and antique store complex he’s planning to open in Seward, when gallery workers suggested he host a show of the work to raise awareness and interest in the art.
The collection on display includes works from such artists as John Audubon and John Gould.
“I would say the most impressive pieces that I've collected in natural history would be the hummingbirds by John Gould and his wife that were done in England,” he said, “and I have many well-done Audubon prints of American birds and mammals.”
Many are not aware of Audubon’s last works, which are considered among his best, Rosowski said. The prints were based off collections and observations taken during his trip up the Missouri River in 1843, and include prints of the Carolina parakeet, which died out in Nebraska in 1876.
“A lot of people … are unaware of the beauty of 19th century botanical books and bird books,” he said.
An entire set of Audubon folio birds would be “the most expensive set of books in the world,” Rosowski said, costing more than $10 million.
Such prints are rare, in large part, due to the small number of copies that were made.
“I’ve been interested in the enormous amount of effort that went into producing works of art in mass production in past centuries,” he said. “To produce something in color, prior to the 18th century, meant doing all the coloring by hand, one at a time.”
By the middle of the 19th century, the printing technique of lithography had been invented, but it was often supplemental to hand coloring. Additionally, gum Arabic, a type of binder, was sometimes applied to the surface to give it a glossy look.
“So really, a lot of the prints that I have from the 18th and 19th centuries could be considered one of a kind, because you could have two images that are supposedly the same, but one might have far superior coloring,” Rosowski said.
“Over time, you get some feel for which works are the most beautiful, which have the best colorists, and which papers are the best,” he said, explaining that some paper turns brown or yellow as the years pass.
“It's always a challenge to find good prints out here in the Midwest,” he said.
That will change with the opening of the Blue Heron, however. The three-part business will probably open in phases during the summer and fall, said Rosowski, who plans to retire next year.
The first floor will feature an antique store with 16th to 20th century hand-colored or lithographed prints and Pan-Asian American furniture. The second floor will be home to a nightclub and gallery.
The gallery will have meteorites and plant and animal fossils on display, and the walls will be filled with pieces from Rosowski's collection. This includes 1890s French “cabaret style” posters, World War I posters and pre-1915 holiday postcards, in addition to biological prints.
“(I collect) pretty much anything on paper that's pre-19th century or earlier, particularly things that are hand-colored, and mostly plants and animals,” Rosowski said.
The gallery will also be available for local artists to display their work, he said, including anything from sculpture to watercolors to oil paintings.
All prints on display at Against the Wall Gallery are for sale.
Rosowski recommended that visitors pay special attention to Audubon's double elephant folio book on birds. At the time it was published, the book was the largest ever created. Audubon insisted that each of the 435 birds, including herons, pelicans and flamingos, be drawn at natural size.
“The neck of the whooping crane is actually sticking beyond the formal edge of the plate because the bird is so big that he could hardly get it in there,” Rosowski said. “The paper was almost not big enough.”
The whooping crane print, which is on display at the gallery, also demonstrates another trademark of Audubon.
"The other thing is the incredible composition," he said. "There's so much action in his best plates."
As a biologist, Rosowski said, he recognizes the scientific as well as artistic value of Audubon and Gould's art.
“What I've discovered is that a lot of really good observations in natural history have taken place before our own time,” Rosowski said. “Many of the things (the early naturalists) recorded that were challenged at the time have been proven to be correct. The 19th century was the real heyday of discovering new species.
“As we move more into the molecular area, there's been a tendency to forget about the sort of science that had to take place in the discovery of plants and animals.”
Rosowski has amassed an impressive collection over the years, but one print, the inspiration for his new business, continues to elude him.
“If there's one print that I would like to have in original condition, it would be a double elephant folio of the great blue heron,” he said. “At the present time, I don't have even a good reproduction of that particular bird. I've been looking … but that particular print was so popular that it's just hard to find it.”
Reach Hilary Stohs-Krause at 473-7254 or hstohs-krause@journalstar.com.
Rosowski, who was a graduate student at the time and is now a part-time professor of biology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, began working at the shop not long after.
“(The owner) had primarily natural history prints, and since I was a biologist, I found those particularly interesting,” Rosowski said. “I started collecting them, and I've been doing it ever since."
Some of the best pieces from his collection are on display at Against the Wall Gallery, 6220 Havelock Ave., through Friday. Rosowski was framing prints from his collection for “The Blue Heron,” a nightclub, gallery and antique store complex he’s planning to open in Seward, when gallery workers suggested he host a show of the work to raise awareness and interest in the art.
The collection on display includes works from such artists as John Audubon and John Gould.
“I would say the most impressive pieces that I've collected in natural history would be the hummingbirds by John Gould and his wife that were done in England,” he said, “and I have many well-done Audubon prints of American birds and mammals.”
Many are not aware of Audubon’s last works, which are considered among his best, Rosowski said. The prints were based off collections and observations taken during his trip up the Missouri River in 1843, and include prints of the Carolina parakeet, which died out in Nebraska in 1876.
“A lot of people … are unaware of the beauty of 19th century botanical books and bird books,” he said.
An entire set of Audubon folio birds would be “the most expensive set of books in the world,” Rosowski said, costing more than $10 million.
Such prints are rare, in large part, due to the small number of copies that were made.
“I’ve been interested in the enormous amount of effort that went into producing works of art in mass production in past centuries,” he said. “To produce something in color, prior to the 18th century, meant doing all the coloring by hand, one at a time.”
By the middle of the 19th century, the printing technique of lithography had been invented, but it was often supplemental to hand coloring. Additionally, gum Arabic, a type of binder, was sometimes applied to the surface to give it a glossy look.
“So really, a lot of the prints that I have from the 18th and 19th centuries could be considered one of a kind, because you could have two images that are supposedly the same, but one might have far superior coloring,” Rosowski said.
“Over time, you get some feel for which works are the most beautiful, which have the best colorists, and which papers are the best,” he said, explaining that some paper turns brown or yellow as the years pass.
“It's always a challenge to find good prints out here in the Midwest,” he said.
That will change with the opening of the Blue Heron, however. The three-part business will probably open in phases during the summer and fall, said Rosowski, who plans to retire next year.
The first floor will feature an antique store with 16th to 20th century hand-colored or lithographed prints and Pan-Asian American furniture. The second floor will be home to a nightclub and gallery.
The gallery will have meteorites and plant and animal fossils on display, and the walls will be filled with pieces from Rosowski's collection. This includes 1890s French “cabaret style” posters, World War I posters and pre-1915 holiday postcards, in addition to biological prints.
“(I collect) pretty much anything on paper that's pre-19th century or earlier, particularly things that are hand-colored, and mostly plants and animals,” Rosowski said.
The gallery will also be available for local artists to display their work, he said, including anything from sculpture to watercolors to oil paintings.
All prints on display at Against the Wall Gallery are for sale.
Rosowski recommended that visitors pay special attention to Audubon's double elephant folio book on birds. At the time it was published, the book was the largest ever created. Audubon insisted that each of the 435 birds, including herons, pelicans and flamingos, be drawn at natural size.
“The neck of the whooping crane is actually sticking beyond the formal edge of the plate because the bird is so big that he could hardly get it in there,” Rosowski said. “The paper was almost not big enough.”
The whooping crane print, which is on display at the gallery, also demonstrates another trademark of Audubon.
"The other thing is the incredible composition," he said. "There's so much action in his best plates."
As a biologist, Rosowski said, he recognizes the scientific as well as artistic value of Audubon and Gould's art.
“What I've discovered is that a lot of really good observations in natural history have taken place before our own time,” Rosowski said. “Many of the things (the early naturalists) recorded that were challenged at the time have been proven to be correct. The 19th century was the real heyday of discovering new species.
“As we move more into the molecular area, there's been a tendency to forget about the sort of science that had to take place in the discovery of plants and animals.”
Rosowski has amassed an impressive collection over the years, but one print, the inspiration for his new business, continues to elude him.
“If there's one print that I would like to have in original condition, it would be a double elephant folio of the great blue heron,” he said. “At the present time, I don't have even a good reproduction of that particular bird. I've been looking … but that particular print was so popular that it's just hard to find it.”
Reach Hilary Stohs-Krause at 473-7254 or hstohs-krause@journalstar.com.
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