UA Museum to Display Original Fish Drawings by Joseph R. Tomelleri

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama’s Alabama Museum of Natural History opens a new exhibition titled “Alabama Fishes: Original Art by Joseph Tomelleri,” Nov. 11.

The exhibition is on loan from the Westervelt Co., owner of the collection of color drawings, and will be on display in Smith Hall, Sixth Avenue, on the UA campus.

Tomelleri, a Kansas City artist, traveled more than 150,000 miles collecting live fishes for his scientific renderings. More than 200 of his illustrations are included in the book “Fishes of Alabama,” which is co-authored by Dr. Herbert Boschung, UA professor emeritus of biological sciences.

“We started on this project in 1991,” said Tomelleri, “and traveled all over the state to collect live fish that I could use in my drawings. This is truly an Alabama collection, and that is something rare to find. It’s also what makes ‘Fishes of Alabama’ such a unique book.”

“The meticulous illustrations by Joseph Tomelleri have a close tie with the University,” says Dr. Judy Bonner, provost and executive vice president at UA. “Herb Boschung devoted his academic career to studying Alabama fishes, and we are delighted to highlight both his work in the field of biological sciences and these wonderful color drawings.”

Tomelleri’s drawings are executed in Prismacolor pencils and are renowned for their precision and beauty. They portray the fishes faithfully, with accurate life colors, scale and fin ray-counts, and a full spread of the fins in a manner that is impossible photographically. Tomelleri is recognized by many ichthyologists as the finest scientific illustrator of fishes in the world.

“The University of Alabama Museums is privileged to have the opportunity to exhibit this outstanding collection of art that illustrates Alabama’s rich natural diversity,” said Dr. Robert Clouse, executive director of the UA Museums. “The brilliant colors and incredible detail in Tomelleri’s drawings will be a familiar sight to the many thousands of Alabamians who fish in our state’s streams, rivers and lakes.”

The exhibition is sponsored in part by the Westervelt Co., the UA Office of Academic Affairs and Creative Campus.

“Fishes of Alabama” is also co-authored by Dr. Richard Mayden, former UA professor of biological sciences and current chairman of the department of biology at Saint Louis University.

Regular operating hours for the UA’s Alabama Museum of Natural History are Tuesday – Saturday, 10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Admission is $2 for adults and $1 for children and seniors. To find out more information about the University Museums visit their web page at www.museums.ua.edu.