Talking to a painter like Hugh Yorty or Stanley Lewis is almost the only way to learn about George Rose. These–and other–painters speak admiringly about the intensity and inventiveness of Rose’s work. They talk about coming into a classroom to teach an early morning drawing class and finding the walls covered with drawings, by Rose, who had spent the night in the room, drawing a skull or a certain plaster cast over and over again. They talk about his problematic eyesight and the real poignancy it brings to the work done directly from the motif. Unfortunately, the only available evidence of this painter’s work is one illustration in later editions of Nathan Goldstein’s The Art of Responsive Drawing. I complained here on the blog about not being able to find examples of his work anywhere online just, like, a week ago.
So it makes me really happy to be able to change things in a small way. Here are a few examples of paintings by George Rose from the mid-1970s, when he was a professor at Southwest Missouri State University. (Provided by Martha Mincey (thank you!), who runs the Visual Resources Collection there, and with permission from Mr. Rose.)
After teaching at Southwest Missouri State (now just Missouri State), Rose went on to a career teaching at Boston University and Northwest Missouri State. He is retired from teaching now (let’s hope not from art-making) and lives in Maryville, MO.
There are more paintings to see after the cut.
I’m happy to see these.
I’m in my studio working right now and couldn’t get one of George Rose’s paintings, “The Mechanic Shop” out of my head. Thankfully there area few example of his work here.
This is a great Blog. Keep it up. I have added the MW Capacity link on Midwest Paint Group Beta Site. In addition I have announced MW Capacity to the members of the Midwest Paint Group. I’m sure they will all be checking out the George Rose paintings and the Barry Gealt images. This should also bring them into the rest of your informative and interesting Blog. Congratulation on finding this treasure trove of George Rose’s work
I talked to George on the phone a few years back. Stanley Lewis has been after me to get him an online guest artist show with the midwest-paint-group.org. I had only seen a couple drawings and one painting prior. You may view an additional George Rose painting from the Wright State collection at:
http://midwest-painting-group.org/Al%20Kresch%20at%20WSU/index_3.htm
It is on page 4 of the photo album from the Al Kresch show at WSU.
Thanks for putting these up…Hadn’t known about his work but will look out for it now…The landscapes attract me the most, I think..
Hey. For those not in the know. There exists a Midwestern group of Hard Won Image type painters. In a perfect world, these folks might be in the history books right next to the Bay Area painters. Timothy King has run a website for years, the Midwest Paint Group, that focuses on these painters. You can get there from our links page.
these are really beautiful. does anyone know if in real life they are as blue as they appear on the images?
These are scans from slides made back in the 1970s, so I’m guessing the color is off.
It’s great to see these pieces. They serve as a reminder that “real” painting still exists, even if it’s been driven deep underground. I had the great good fortune to get to know George and to curate a show of his work a number of years ago here at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. We were able to purchase two pieces from that show for our permanent collection, so if you’re ever in the area and would like to see one in the flesh feel free to contact me.
One thing that I really hope is that MW Capacity proves that painting is not an embattled art form. I was taught that it is embattled, endangered or underground for most of my career as an art student. But it’s not my experience of the world that’s really out there. Sometimes I’m really afraid that talking about painting being underground just becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Fashionable painting can be annoying, but I refuse to see it as a threat.
Unfortunately, there are some great ones that fall through the cracks.
This George Rose work is amazing painting, the space is in the paintings is uncommonly palpable. The invention and intensity seems more than tasteful good painting; it is totally life-affirming to me. I would love to see one in person, thank you.
Yes, you’re right, of course, there is plenty of painting out there and much of it is good, even “amazing” (the Stanley Lewis work on your homesite as case in point, but others as well: Laderman, Cajori, etc.). I think the culture of painting has ceded ground to the culture of “art”. One has to look (and sometimes hard) for painting in the magazines n (do they actually show painters in “Modern Painters” anymore?), the galleries, the museums of contemporary art. Given that marginalization, along with hyperactive and obscene art market, perhaps “underground” isn’t such a bad thing. I applaud your efforts to shine a light on painting now and will continue to check into the site.
I just feel like the way to mount the insurgency is to talk up what’s good, put it into a context where people can see it next to the trendy and market-driven and accept real painting as the vital part of the culture that it is. I just won’t spend too much time worrying about the market or the magazines being unfair. Actually, I’m kind of sad–you’re the first person who’s even mentioned the art market, we’d kept this space all about aesthetics and culture until now. I feel kinda sullied. And I don’t want to discuss it any more in this post. The Rose work is too important; let’s talk it up!
I have to admit I’m someone who hasn’t seen Rose’s work in person. From the slide scans, I’m being reminded of Cezanne and Kokoschka. There is an amazing urgency in many of these.
Thanks for these images. I have been looking for reproductions of George Rose’s work online for so long that I gave up searching. I am one of the people that got to see Rose’s show at WSU as a student there and I continue to be struck by the immediacy of those landscapes, although I have to admit that they are becoming hazy with time in my memory. Any chance someone out there has slides of those paintings and can put them online?
Sam K – I have had the great fortune of having Mr. Rose as an instructor while at Northwest Missouri State University. Mr. Rose often used Cezanne’s work to illustrate painting principles.
It’s been 12 years since I’ve last seen Mr. Rose, but his instruction, encouragement and dedication to art still impressed upon me.
Thank you for featuring some work from this terrific painter.
Chris deserves a lot of cred here, for some excellent blog-journalism, and also, Ms. Mincey at Missouri State for sharing the images.
I too was blessed with being able to study under and learn from George at Northwest Mo State for 5 years. What a wonderful man, brilliant artist and inspirational teacher he was (still is the first two, actually).
His chalkboard drawings were fantastic; he’d be in the middle of writing an assignment on the board and get lost in a doodle turned sketch turned vibrant work of art and then have to find space on the board to finish what he was writing.
His still-lives were breath-taking. And I’m just talking about the scenes he would create in the room for us to paint!
George Rose was my teacher at SMS many years ago. I graduated with a BFA in fine arts in 1972…and George Rose is honestly my favorite memory of my art studies in college. He was a wonderful teacher…and I, too, feel blessed to have learned from him. I still think of him often when I paint.