By Justin Franz

SANTA FE, N.M. — The final works of Ted Rose, one of the preeminent American railroad painters of the 20th Century, will go on public display at a special exhibit in Santa Fe from November 25 to 27, some 20 years after the artist’s death. 

Rose created realistic and emotional portraits of American railroading during the second half of the 20th century. He was born and raised in Milwaukee and for a time worked for Kalmbach Publishing. He graduated from the University of Illinois with a BFA in painting and minors in printmaking and history in 1962. He served in the military and did a brief stint as a brakeman for the Chicago & North Western. He settled in Santa Fe in 1966 and became a graphic designer. In the 1980s, after a hiatus, he returned to painting and created a stunning body of work that still wows viewers today. In 1999, he created five paintings for the U.S. Postal Service’s “All Aboard” series of stamps. He died of cancer in 2002. 

After his death, the family left his studio untouched so that they could focus on grieving. But now they have decided to display some of his final pieces of work never before seen by the public. The exhibit, “In The Traces: The Remaining Works of Ted Rose,” will open at the La Fonda Hotel’s Santa Fe Room in downtown Santa Fe with a reception on Friday, November 25 from 5 to 7 p.m. The exhibit will remain on display on November 26 and 27, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. After the exhibit, the remaining paintings will be sold at the Medicine Man Gallery in Tucson, Arizona, beginning in January. 

For more information, tedrosestudio.com.