Thomas Rowlandson’s The Rivals

The Rivals

By Barbara Wilcox

Rowlandson’s The Rivals was one of the prints I checked out as a Berkeley undergraduate in the 1970s. I am amazed to learn that it’s still circulating and in good condition 40 years later. I was a History of Art major, but living with Real Art on the wall of my crumbling Northside apartment was an entirely different experience, one of stewardship and daily changing understanding. I researched Rowlandson and years later found an 1805 hand-tinted print at a garage sale for $10. Benefits of a liberal arts education! As a career I went into journalism and later into university communications and advancement. The ability I developed at Cal to appreciate beauty and the social contribution of art enriches every day of my life. I’m on two nonprofit art-related boards and I evangelize for the arts every place I go, including that other university across the Bay.