14
Portfolios%3D%22506%22%20and%20Sort_Artist%3D%22Tota,%20Josephine%22
Painting
Untitled (Life Story)
Josephine Tota, 1911 - 1996
Tota, Josephine
United States
1910 - 1996
Female
16 x 20 1/8 in. (40.6 x 51.1 cm)
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board
image
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frame
Egg tempera
Egg tempera
ca. 1980s
1975
1985
Painting
Rochester artist Josephine Tota did not title her paintings and very rarely offered insight into their meaning. These works were her private reflections, often resulting from dreams or memories. Some of her more common motifs show up in this painting: anxious women, crying eyes, undefined domestic spaces, masks, clothing, and needle and thread. This complex scene is full of personal symbols, the meanings of which are unknown to us now.
[Summer 2015]
lower right, in imageupper left
Rosamond Tota
1997.3
item
Memorial Art Gallery
9/8/1999
97.3LS1
slide
2 x 2
00/00/00
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Graphics/blank.gif
negative
4x5
00/00/00
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Graphics/blank.gif
glossy
8x10
00/00/00
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Graphics/blank.gif
97.3DI1
digital image
5/1/2002
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/Inventory pictures/97.3_I1.jpg
97.3DI#2
digital image
8/26/2010
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/97.3_A1.jpg
97.3DI#3
digital image
1/6/2016
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/97.3_A2.jpg
Painting
Untitled
Josephine Tota, (Corato, Italy, 1911 - 1996, Rochester, NY)
Tota, Josephine
United States
1910 - 1996
Female
Primary
9 9/16 x 11 3/16 in. (24.3 x 28.4 cm)
.
.
.
overall
overall
Egg tempera
Egg tempera
1982
1982
1982
Painting
lower rightverso
Rosamond Tota
2011.59
item
Memorial Art Gallery
7/18/2011
6445.7DI#1
digital image
7/18/2011
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/Inventory pictures/2011.59_I1.jpg
2011.59DI#2
digital image
12/6/2011
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/2011.59_A1.jpg
2011.59DI#3
digital image
1/6/2016
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/2011.59_A2.jpg
Painting
Untitled
Josephine Tota, (Corato, Italy, 1911 - 1996, Rochester, NY)
Tota, Josephine
United States
1910 - 1996
Female
Primary
7 x 10 1/2 in. (17.8 x 26.7 cm)
.
.
.
overall
overall
Egg tempera
Egg tempera
1983
1983
1983
Painting
lower leftversoverso
Rosamond Tota
2011.60
item
Memorial Art Gallery
7/18/2011
6445.8DI#1
digital image
7/28/2011
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/Inventory pictures/2011.60_I1.jpg
2011.60DI#2
digital image
12/6/2011
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/2011.60_A1.jpg
2011.60DI#3
digital image
1/6/2016
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/2011.60_A2.jpg
Painting
Untitled
Josephine Tota, (Corato, Italy, 1911 - 1996, Rochester, NY)
Tota, Josephine
United States
1910 - 1996
Female
Primary
6 1/8 x 6 1/8 in. (15.6 x 15.6 cm)
.
.
.
overall
overall
.
.
.
frame
Egg tempera
Egg tempera
1983
1983
1983
Painting
lower rightverso
Rosamond Tota
2011.58
item
Memorial Art Gallery
7/18/2011
6445.6DI#1
digital image
7/18/2011
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/Inventory pictures/2011.58_I1.jpg
2011.58DI#2
digital image
12/6/2011
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/2011.58_A1.jpg
2011.58DI#3
digital image
1/6/2016
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/2011.58_A2.jpg
Painting
Untitled
Josephine Tota, 1911 - 1996
Tota, Josephine
United States
1910 - 1996
Female
Primary
6 9/16 x 16 in. (16.7 x 40.6 cm)
.
.
.
overall
overall
.
.
.
frame
Egg tempera
Egg tempera
1983
1983
1983
Painting
lower rightverso
Rosamond Tota
2011.55
item
Memorial Art Gallery
7/18/2011
6445.3DI#1
digital image
7/18/2011
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/Inventory pictures/2011.55_I1.jpg
2011.55DI#2
digital image
12/6/2011
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/2011.55_A1.jpg
2011.55DI#3
digital image
1/6/2016
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/2011.55_A2.jpg
Painting
Untitled
Josephine Tota, 1911 - 1996
Tota, Josephine
United States
1910 - 1996
Female
Primary
5 1/4 x 8 1/4 in. (13.3 x 21 cm)
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.
.
overall
overall
.
.
.
without frame
Egg tempera
Egg tempera
1983
1983
1983
Painting
lower leftverso
Rosamond Tota
2011.62
item
Memorial Art Gallery
7/18/2011
6445.10DI#1
digital image
7/18/2011
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/Inventory pictures/2011.62_I1.jpg
2011.62DI#2
digital image
12/6/2011
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/2011.62_A1.jpg
2011.62DI#3
digital image
1/6/2016
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/2011.62_A2.jpg
Painting
Untitled
Josephine Tota, (Corato, Italy, 1911 - 1996, Rochester, NY)
Tota, Josephine
United States
1910 - 1996
Female
Primary
7 x 8 3/16 in. (17.8 x 20.8 cm)
.
.
.
overall
overall
.
.
.
without frame
Egg tempera
Egg tempera
1983
1983
1983
Painting
lower leftverso
Rosamond Tota
2011.57
item
Memorial Art Gallery
7/18/2011
6445.5DI#1
digital image
7/18/2011
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/Inventory pictures/2011.57_I1.jpg
2011.57DI#2
digital image
12/6/2011
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/2011.57_A1.jpg
2011.57DI#3
digital image
1/6/2016
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/2011.57_A2.jpg
Painting
Untitled
Josephine Tota, (Corato, Italy, 1911 - 1996, Rochester, NY)
Tota, Josephine
United States
1910 - 1996
Female
Primary
11 5/8 x 18 1/8 in. (29.5 x 46 cm)
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.
.
overall
overall
.
.
.
frame
Egg tempera
Egg tempera
1985
1985
1985
Painting
rightverso
Rosamond Tota
2011.63
item
Memorial Art Gallery
7/18/2011
6445.11DI#1
digital image
7/18/2011
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/Inventory pictures/2011.63_I1.jpg
2011.63DI#2
digital image
12/6/2011
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/2011.63_A1.jpg
2011.63DI#3
digital image
1/6/2016
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/2011.63_A2.jpg
Painting
Untitled (Self-portrait)
Josephine Tota, 1911 - 1996
Tota, Josephine
United States
1910 - 1996
Female
16 1/8 x 9 3/4 in. (41 x 24.8 cm)
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board
image
.
.
.
overall
frame
Egg tempera
Egg tempera
1987
1987
1987
Painting
Born in Italy, Josephine Tota moved to Rochester with her family in 1920. Like many immigrants in the region, Tota and family members worked in the garment industry. After raising her daughter and retiring from her job as a seamstress, Tota spent her days painting in the privacy of her apartment on Highland Avenue.
The paintings Tota made in her last decade frequently address the internal conflicts and anxieties that confronted her throughout her life. This self-portrait relates to an experience in 1984, when her eyesight was threatened from complications during cataract surgery. The boxed-in figure evokes her overwhelming feelings of suffocating isolation and confinement. The starlight pattern of the surrounding border echoes the visual effects caused by the cataracts whenever she looked at light.
[Hawks Gallery reinstallation, summer 2019]
lower right
Rosamond Tota
1997.2
item
Memorial Art Gallery
9/8/1999
97.2SL1
slide
2 x 2
00/00/00
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Graphics/blank.gif
glossy
8x10
00/00/00
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Graphics/blank.gif
negative
4x5
00/00/00
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Graphics/blank.gif
97.2DI1
digital image
5/9/2002
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/Inventory pictures/97.2_I1.jpg
97.2DI#2
digital image
8/26/2010
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/97.2_A1.jpg
97.2DI#3
digital image
1/6/2016
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/97.2_A2.jpg
Painting
Untitled
Josephine Tota, 1911 - 1996
Tota, Josephine
United States
1910 - 1996
Female
Primary
12 x 16 1/8 in. (30.5 x 41 cm)
.
.
.
overall
overall
Egg tempera
Egg tempera
1986
1986
1986
Painting
upper left quadrantlower leftverso
Rosamond Tota
2011.54
item
Memorial Art Gallery
7/18/2011
6445.2DI#1
digital image
7/18/2011
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/Inventory pictures/2011.54_I1.jpg
2011.54DI#2
digital image
12/6/2011
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/2011.54_A1.jpg
2011.54DI#3
digital image
1/6/2016
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/2011.54_A2.jpg
Painting
Untitled
Josephine Tota, (Corato, Italy, 1911 - 1996, Rochester, NY)
Tota, Josephine
United States
1910 - 1996
Female
Primary
10 5/8 x 32 15/16 in. (27 x 83.7 cm)
.
.
.
overall
overall
Egg tempera
Egg tempera
1985
1985
1985
Painting
verso, Partly broken away; format of dates written on other pieces indicates this date probably means June 2[ ], 1985.lower right
Rosamond Tota
2011.53
item
Memorial Art Gallery
7/18/2011
6445.1DI#1
digital image
7/18/2011
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/Inventory pictures/2011.53_I1.jpg
2011.53DI#2
digital image
12/6/2011
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/2011.53_A1.jpg
2011.53DI#3
digital image
1/6/2016
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/2011.53_A2.jpg
Painting
Untitled
Josephine Tota, 1911 - 1996
Tota, Josephine
United States
1910 - 1996
Female
Primary
12 x 11 7/8 in. (30.5 x 30.2 cm)
.
.
.
overall
overall
Egg tempera
Egg tempera
1988
1988
1988
Painting
lower right
Rosamond Tota
2011.64
item
Memorial Art Gallery
7/18/2011
6445.12DI#1
digital image
7/28/2011
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/Inventory pictures/2011.64_I1.jpg
2011.64DI#2
digital image
12/6/2011
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/2011.64_A1.jpg
2011.64DI#3
digital image
1/6/2016
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/2011.64_A2.jpg
Painting
Untitled
Josephine Tota, (Corato, Italy, 1911 - 1996, Rochester, NY)
Tota, Josephine
United States
1910 - 1996
Female
Primary
14 1/16 x 16 1/8 in. (35.7 x 41 cm)
.
.
.
overall
overall
.
.
.
frame
Egg tempera
Egg tempera
1987
1987
1987
Painting
The remarkable paintings of Rochester artist Josephine Tota were private reflections, often resulting from dreams or memories. Her unique style was influenced by medieval paintings. As in traditional Catholic altarpieces, the small figure (the artist) prays on her knees, beseeching help from the larger figures. This image may reference her 1984 cataract surgery and the resulting complications that had her dependent upon and possibly resentful of her doctors.
[Label text from It Came From the Vault exhibition, 2013]
lower right
Rosamond Tota
2011.56
item
Memorial Art Gallery
7/18/2011
6445.4DI#1
digital image
7/18/2011
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/Inventory pictures/2011.56_I1.jpg
2011.56DI#2
digital image
12/6/2011
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/2011.56_A1.jpg
2011.56DI#3
digital image
1/6/2016
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/2011.56_A2.jpg
Painting
Untitled
Josephine Tota, (Corato, Italy, 1911 - 1996, Rochester, NY)
Tota, Josephine
United States
1910 - 1996
Female
Primary
8 7/16 x 10 in. (21.4 x 25.4 cm)
.
.
.
overall
overall
Egg tempera
Egg tempera
1982
1982
1982
Painting
lower rightverso
Rosamond Tota
2011.61
item
Memorial Art Gallery
7/18/2011
6445.9DI#1
digital image
7/18/2011
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/Inventory pictures/2011.61_I1.jpg
2011.61DI#2
digital image
12/6/2011
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/2011.61_A1.jpg
2011.61DI#3
digital image
2/10/2016
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/2011.61_A2.jpg