Obscured by Time: The Magic of Florida, Featuring the Art of Hermann Trappman

At an early age, Hermann Trappman became fascinated with the origins of Florida and its early inhabitants. Eventually, he turned to art to express his findings about the distant past. As he acquired more scientific information, his illustrations became increasingly accurate. Suddenly, his sketches of the Florida he once knew exploded into shifting plates, becoming part of a dynamically changing Earth. Entire environments developed then disappeared. Humans arrived; struggling with Florida’s challenging landscape, until they finally constructed complex civilizations.

Many of these insights will come to life when the Tampa Bay History Center presents the exhibition Obscured by Time: The Magic of Florida, featuring the art of Hermann Trappman, opening Saturday, July 10th. The exhibition will detail the natural history of Florida through Trappman’s compelling paintings, artifact replicas, fossils, and examples of the resources utilized by ancient Native Americans.

Obscured by Time offers a glimpse of early Florida, its native peoples and geography prior to European contact in the 1500s. A self-taught artist, Trappman’s work explores the life of Florida’s early peoples and is based on artifacts, fossils and other archeological evidence found along the shores of Florida.
This exhibition will be in the History Center’s Third Floor Gallery through September 26th. A variety of programs and workshops are also planned. For more information, visit our website.