Rolling Stock, For Jesse

Robert Cottingham’s “Rolling Stock” series of color aquatints are studies of the ordinary. Each of the prints is compositionally similar, showing an arrangement of mechanical parts—ladders, hand brake wheels, air hoses, and couplings—found on the ends of railroad boxcars. Rendered in highly detailed and closely observed representations, the images mimic the visual effects of photography. Though sharing similar subject matter, the prints vary in size, format, and color scheme. Cottingham devised unusual color schemes for the prints as a way to accentuate the aesthetic and expressive qualities of his subjects. The prints possess a precise and compelling visual harmony, both individually and across the series as a whole. Though the subjects of the prints are familiar to most, the meticulous details and photographic-like depictions invite close inspection.