Painting at the End of the Ice Age

PAINTING AT THE END OF THE ICE AGE

The Science of Climate Change from Pole to Pole in Forty Years of Painting by David Rosenthal

November 3, 2023 - March 30, 2024

David Rosenthal has painted glaciers for the last 48 years. From the Arctic to Antarctica, his work chronicles the retreat of glaciers and sea ice. Painting at the End of the Ice Age documents the effects of climate change within one lifetime. For the exhibition, Rosenthal worked with a group of scientists from around the world to create interpretive panels that accompany his paintings.

Rosenthal lives in Cordova, Alaska. Before becoming an artist, he studied physics. He has traveled with the U.S. Coast Guard Art Program, the Antarctic Artist and Writer Program, and the Alaska Artists in the Schools Program. He worked in Greenland at Summit Camp as a contract science tech employed by the National Science Foundation and worked as a science support contractor in Antarctica for the National Science Foundation. These experiences inform his art.

• I noticed my world. My home of Maine, was getting warmer. Summers were hotter and longer, winters were milder and shorter. My evidence for a warming trend was anecdotal, based on my experiences and stories I heard from people who had lived before I was born. In the late seventies, I moved to Alaska and soon after began traveling In the Arctic and in Antarctica. I experienced the same warming trends there. My hope is that these paintings will inspire us to think about what changes we can make to slow the warming of our planet.

   -       David Rosenthal

Image: Columbia Glacier and Mountains in Mist  by David Rosenthal