It's a long shot, but perhaps someday somebody will Google Rose Ollie Dodd. Rose was a very talented artist around the turn of the last century, creating a fascinating portfolio of drawings and paintings from 1914 to around 1940. A picker came in to Blues Alley with these and other works from that portfolio, long since dispersed, and I thought it would be fun to see if we can get some answers about Rose via the Internet.
Rose loved music, or at least musicians, and a couple of her works were of world class violin players, including Jascha Heifetz. Jascha immigrated when just a boy to the U. S. from Lithuania, and became one of the greatest, if not THE greatest, violinists of his day. America has always been fertile ground for the talented and industrious.
Another portrait was of a famous artist in New York who made a career out of making engravings of various illustrator's works for publication in Harpers, Scribners and Century magazines. In those days, rather than photography, a staff artist had to reproduce commissioned illustrations for publications via engraving techniques, and Henry Wolf copied all the greats such as Frederick Remington and A. B. Frost faithfully. Rose appreciated such obscure talent, knew of his behind-the-scene skill and drew an excellent likeness of him.
It seems she wanted to edify those artistic prodigies that went largely unsung. So, Rose, I'm pitching in. Now your work is on the Internet, almost one hundred years after you started your project. May your and their names live on, as heroes and inspiration for people like you, who knew that because of them, the world is a sweeter place.
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