Tony Rosati

"Yearnings can be powerful feelings, yet yearnings can be vague and almost knowable. Making art is often an effort to interpret indescribable yearnings. It is through the distortion of color and forms that such unknowable feelings are visually expressed yet remain intuitively understood. Celestial yearnings lure me to ponder the sky. The sky slides behind the edge of earth’s protruding forms, or rests upon the open ocean line. The earth and sky rendezvous to configure contours. And on the earth, both life and nature’s forces interact in mysterious and dramatic ways. In the sky there are a billion blues, days and nights, orbiting spheres and compelling, ceaseless, infinities."
-Tony Rosati

Though recognized for his watercolors and drawings, Tony Rosati is perhaps best known for his prints. Not a printmaker devoted to one technique or style, Rosati creates etchings, monotypes, collographs, and mezzotints, among others types of prints, and often incorporates other mixed media into his work via collage. His prints tend to be intimate in scale as well as focused and selective in subject matter. Rosati has produced printed series devoted to landscapes, eggs, clouds, and waves. The artist has stated that his landscape prints in particular are informed by works observed through his employment as the assistant to the curator of the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection in 1971-1980. The collection of rare books, now a part of the Library of Congress Rare Book and Special Collections Division, includes printed materials by William Blake, William Caxton, and Pierre Joseph Redouté. It proved instrumental to Rosati’s development as a printmaker.

In addition to working as a printmaker, Rosati taught printmaking at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art, the University of the Arts, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where he has been the Chairperson of the Printmaking Department since 1993. Specifically, some of the courses he has taught include Preliminary Intaglio, Print Media, Monotype, and Thesis Seminar. Rosati’s work has been shown at the Michener Art Museum in the exhibitions entitled In Our Circle (1991), Bucks Biennial (1994), Transformations: Four Bucks County Artists (1995), and An Evolving Legacy: Twenty Years of Collecting at the Michener Art Museum (2009).

Education and Training
B.A. in Fine Arts, Rider College, Lawrenceville, New Jersey, 1969
M.F.A. in Printmaking, Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1980

Connection to Bucks County
Though he has taught in Philadelphia for decades, Rosati lives and works in Ivyland, Bucks County.

Major Solo Exhibitions
Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1980, 1990
Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1980
Philadelphia College of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1981
The George School, Newtown, Pennsylvania, 1983
Newtown Savings Association, Newtown, Pennsylvania, 1983
The Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1985
Gallery Avenue Kobe, Kobe, Japan, 1987
Rider College Gallery, Lawrenceville, New Jersey, 1989-1990
Westtown School, Westtown, Pennsylvania, 1991
University of the Arts, Printmaking Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1994
The Print Club, Center for Prints and Photographs, Gallery Store, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1995
Toro Gallery, Huntington Valley, Pennsylvania, 1995, 1996-1997
Artists' House Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1995, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010
Peng Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1998
Philadelphia Museum of Art Restaurant Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2000
Westby Gallery, Rowan University, Glassboro, New Jersey, 2008

Major Group Exhibitions
Annual International Competition, The Print Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1986, 1987, 1988
Boston Printmakers' 29th Annual, Museum Purchase Award, DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, Massachusetts, 1977
In Celebration of Prints, Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1980
Pennsylvania Invitational Graphics Exhibition, Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Loretto, Pennsylvania, 1981
Invitational Exhibition of American Printmakers, Kipp Gallery, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, Pennsylvania, 1984
Printmakers Who Make Prints, Painted Bride Art Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1986
Active American Art Today, Gallery Avenue Kobe, Kobe, Japan, 1987
2nd Annual Juried Print Exhibition, Philadelphia Sketch Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1987
Works on Paper, Beaver College, Glenside, Pennsylvania, 1987, 1988
Contemporary Philadelphia Artists: A Juried Show, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1990
Selections from the Permanent Collection, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1991
In Our Circle, Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 1991
Printmaking Department Faculty Exhibition, School Gallery, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1993
Printmakers At Large, Invitational, Philadelphia Sketch Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1993
Bucks Biennial, Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 1994
PCAD Fine Arts Faculty Exhibition, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1995
Transformations: Four Contemporary Bucks County Artists, Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 1995
Contemporary Philadelphia Printmakers, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1996
Eight Points of View, Linter Gallery, Keystone College, La Plume, Pennsylvania, 1996
The Unbroken Line, 1887-1997: 100 Years of Fellowship, A Centennial Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1997
Then and Now: Fiftieth Anniversary Exhibition of Former Faculty Members, Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts and Sciences, Love Ladies, New Jersey, 1998
Non-Toxic Printmaking, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2001
Artists' House Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2000, 2002
Printmaking from Tamarind to 1026: Prints from the Print and Picture Collection, Free Library of Philadelphia, Central Library, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2005
Philagraphika, William Penn Foundation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2006-2007
Recent Acquisitions: Prints and Drawings from Durer to Doig, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2006
Prints and Pictures, The Long Gallery, West Chester University, West Chester, Pennsylvania, 2006
Contemporary Voices, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2009
Fortieth Anniversary Exhibition: Forever Young, Abington Art Center, Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, 2009
An Evolving Legacy: Twenty Years of Collecting at the Michener Art Museum, Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 2009
Mark/Remarque: A Collaborative Portfolio and Other Worth by Philadelphia Printmakers, Free Library of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2010
Imprint/Impact, Hicks Art Center, Bucks County Community College, Newtown, Pennsylvania, 2010

Collections
DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, Massachusetts
The Free Library, Department of Prints and Pictures, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania
Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, Tennessee
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Rider College, Lawrenceville, New Jersey
Upper Moreland Free Public Library, Willow Grove, Pennsylvania
Jane Vorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey
Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Commissions
American Diabetes Association of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1980
Abington Art Center, Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, 1986
Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1989
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., 1990
Hunt Manufacturing Co., 1992
Daniel Garber Family Estate, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 2007

Teaching and Professional Appointments
Assistant to the Curator, Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection, Alverthorpe Gallery, Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, 1971-1980
Visiting Artist, Tyler School of Art of Temple University, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1980-1981
Adjunct Professor, Printmaking Department, The University of the Arts, College of Art and Design, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1981-present
Professor, Printmaking Department, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1985-present
Chairperson of Faculty Committee, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1990-1993
Chairperson of the Printmaking Department, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1993-present

Awards
Museum Purchase Award, Boston Printmakers 29th Annual, DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, Massachusetts, 1977
Purchase Award, Works on Paper, Beaver College, Glenside, Pennsylvania
Purchase Award, 62nd Annual International Competition, The Print Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1986

Affiliations and Memberships
Southern Graphics Counsel Committee Member and Demonstration Coordinator, 2007-2010
Member and Supporter of Philagrafika, 2009
Artsand Cultural Council of Bucks County, Newtown, PA, 2006-present
Collections Management Committee, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA, 2003-present
The Print Club, Philadelphia, PA, 1974-1997
Board of Governors, The Print Club, Philadelphia, PA, 1986-1990
American Color Print Society, Philadelphia, PA, 1986-present
Speakers’ Bureau, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA, 1990-1992