Guide to the Ruth Westerman Collection on Samuel Rosenberg, 1944-2010
- Repository
- Heinz History Center
- Title
- Ruth Westerman Collection on Samuel Rosenberg
- Creator
- Westerman, Ruth, 1929-
- Collection Number
- MSS 889
- Extent
- 1.75 linear feet (2 boxes and 2 shelf volumes)
- Date
- 1941-2014
- Abstract
- Ruth Westerman, a dancer and dance teacher, was the niece of the artist Samuel Rosenberg (1896-1972). A Rosenberg collector, she has promoted greater awareness of Rosenberg since his death by organizing art exhibitions and producing a documentary film about his life and work. Materials in the collection include news clippings, programs, photographs, and correspondence.
- Language
- The material in this collection is in English.
- Publisher
- Heinz History Center
- Address
- 1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org
History
Ruth Westerman, daughter of Max C. and Belle (Levin) Levy, is related through her mother's family to Libbie (Levin) Rosenberg, wife of Samuel Rosenberg (1896-1972), who has been called the "painter laureate of Pittsburgh." Rosenberg spent nearly his entire professional life in Pittsburgh, creating a body of award-winning artwork that reflected a succession of styles from portraits to realistic Pittsburgh landscapes to abstract and non-representational paintings with emphasis on light and color. In addition, he was for many years an inspirational teacher of art at the Irene Kaufmann Settlement, the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University), the Young Men and Women's Hebrew Association, and the Pennsylvania College for Women (now Chatham University).
As a child, Ruth Westerman lived in close proximity to Samuel Rosenberg, and in 1936 she served as the model for his painting "Coming Home from School." She has been a collector of Rosenberg paintings, and she has promoted greater awareness of Rosenberg since his death by organizing art exhibitions and symposia about his work. She is the executive producer of the 2008 film by Kenneth Love, Samuel Rosenberg: Pittsburgh's Painter Laureate, which documents Rosenberg's life and work.
Scope and Content Notes
This collection is stored in 2 archival boxes and is arranged in 5 series: Samuel Rosenberg materials; Ruth Westerman; Ruth Westerman's involvement in Rosenberg exhibitions, events and projects; Students of Samuel Rosenberg; and Audio-visual materials and two shelf volumes containing an interview with Samuel Rosenberg. Materials in the collection include news clippings, magazines, programs, photographs, and correspondence.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Ruth Westerman in 2010.
Accession #2010.0181
Gift of Ruth Westerman in 2015.
Accession #2015.0067
Preferred Citation
Ruth Westerman Collection on Samuel Rosenberg, 1941-2014, MSS 889, Thomas and Katherine Detre Library and Archives, Senator John Heinz History Center
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Martha L. Berg in March 2013.
This collection was updated by Kevin Wagner in June 23, 2017.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights reside with the Senator John Heinz History Center. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Thomas and Katherine Detre Library and Archives of the Senator John Heinz History Center.
Related Materials
A collection of Samuel Rosenberg drawings, collages, small paintings, and sketchbooks is in the Museum Division, with the accession number 2010.53. This collection also includes the painting "Bigelow Boulevard Under Construction" (oil and tempera on masonite, 1940), and two preparatory drawings for it. "Christ Teaching," Samuel Rosenberg's mural for St. Henry Church, is also in the Museum Division, with the accession number 2001.11.
Samuel Rosenberg: Portrait of a Painter, by Barbara L. Jones (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2003), is in the Library.
Heinz History Center archival collections containing material on Samuel Rosenberg include Samuel Rosenberg Papers, 1918-2011, MSS 567, Rauh Jewish Archives, Thomas and Katherine Detre Library and Archives, Senator John Heinz History Center; Records of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, 1910-2003, (Bulk 1984-2000), MSS 399, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania; Papers of Aaronel deRoy Gruber, 1954-1998, MSS 335, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania; Sibyl Barsky Grucci Papers, 1921-2005, MSS 423, Rauh Jewish Archives, Senator John Heinz History Center; Abe Weiner Papers and Photographs, 1936-2011, MSS 582, Rauh Jewish Archives, Senator John Heinz History Center; Records of the Irene Kaufmann Settlement, 1922-1957 (bulk 1922-1936), MSS 78, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania.
Ruth Westerman Papers and Photographs, 1943-2007, MSS #710, Rauh Jewish Archives, Thomas and Katherine Detre Library and Archives, Senator John Heinz History Center, contains materials related to Ruth Westerman's career as a dancer and dance teacher.
A film by Kenneth Love, Samuel Rosenberg: Pittsburgh's Painter Laureate," documents Rosenberg's life and work.
The collections of the Carnegie Museum of Art (http://www.cmoa.org) include paintings and drawings by Samuel Rosenberg.
Subjects
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Jewish Community Center
- Westmoreland Museum of American Art
- Westerman, Ruth, 1929-
- Rosenberg, Samuel, 1896-1972
- Rosenberg, Murray Z., 1925-1996
- Squirrel Hill (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Pittsburgh (Pa.)
- Artists -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
- Jews -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
- Abstract expressionism