Leonard Rosenfeld
1926-2009
BIOGRAPHY
Leonard Rosenfeld was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1926. After serving in WWII, he studied painting, sculpture and drawing at the Art Students League of New York. He found a place to work near the school and began to paint. By the early 1950s, he was ensconced in the Cedar Bar, the abstract expressionists’ hang-out in Greenwich Village. Clement Greenberg, Willem DeKooning and Allen Ginsberg were in and out of “the Cedar,” as were other abstract expressionists, art critics and beatniks. This was when painters “hung out” together and talked about painting. In 1957, he did “Railroad Drawings.” Martha Jackson showed three of these works in a group exhibition in 1965. In the early 1980s, he exhibited his “rag paintings” in Soho, at the so-called “supermarket,” Ivan Karp’s OK Harris gallery on West Broadway. Most of the 1980s were devoted to his favorite work—“wire paintings.” Other painting series followed (“Graffiti,” “Nuts and Bolts,” “Angels”).
During 2004–2007, he painted soldiers at war, beginning with a portrait of General David Petraeus. He had seen a New York Times book review of In the Company of Soldiers: A Chronicle of Combat by Rick Atkinson. It spoke of the General's question to Atkinson, “Tell me how this ends?” He was impressed by Petraeus’ question and decided to paint a portrait of him. The picture shows Petraeus as a, then, two-star General and Commander of the 101st Airborne Division in Iraq. To the right of the General’s shoulder are a gun and a wing. The General’s question seemed thoughtful and prescient. At that moment, Rosenfeld started to paint the war in Iraq. No painter he knew or anyone else was painting the story of this event. In 2007 he painted another portrait of the General. This one is entitled, Et Tu, Petraeus? Before his death in December 2009 he was creating large pastels—portraits, trains, stripes, stories—searching for the next thing. Through his 60 years as a professional artist, Rosenfeld produced a broad yet consistent range of work, always pushing the envelope and reflecting the environment and events of his day. He described himself as an Expressionist. In his words, painting “with a weird combination of abandon and discipline.”
[March 2009]
CV
Selected Exhibitions
2025
Sragow Fine Arts, New York, NY
2024
Southern Exposure Art Auction, San Francisco, CA (through Pastine Projects, San Francisco, CA) (“Hecho por Mano” painting)
2023
Pastine Projects, San Francisco, CA, Wires and Graffiti, one-person
2022
Patch & Remington Gallery, Marcellus, MI, Nuts and Bolts, one-person
Pastine Projects, San Francisco, CA, Jigsaw, Paintings by Leonard Rosenfeld, Livia Stein, and Lucy Traeger, group
Art on Paper, International Art Fair, New York, NY
2021
Pastine Projects, San Francisco, CA, Affinities: carrie lederer | leonard rosenfeld, two-person
Pastine Projects, San Francisco, CA, Yellow, group
Denise Bibro Fine Arts, New York, NY, COLLAGE, juried biennial, group
2020
Salomon Arts Winter Solstice Exhibition, group, Salomon Arts, New York, NY
2018
Denise Bibro Fine Arts, New York, NY, Under Construction: Dimensional Interludes, group
2017
Denise Bibro Fine Arts, New York, NY, Leonard Rosenfeld, Wire and Can Pieces: 1981–1991, one-person
2016
Internal Politics: Great Expectations, group show, Viridian Artists, New York, NY
In the Spirit, group show, Viridian Artists, New York, NY
2015
La MaMa Galleria, New York, NY, Pattern of War, one-person, curated by Mary-Ann Monforton
The Art Students League of New York, New York, NY, On the Front Lines, group
2013
24th International Juried Exhibition, group, curated by Elisabeth Sussman of the Whitney Museum, Viridian Artists, New York, NY
2011
Artwalk Art Auction for Coalition for the Homeless, group, auction by Sotheby’s, New York, NY
2010
Artwalk Art Auction for Coalition for the Homeless, group, auction by Sotheby’s, New York, NY
2009
Salomon Arts Gallery, New York, NY, Wire and Can Pieces, one-person
Van der Plas Gallery, New York, NY, two-person
2008
Wilson Chapel and Meetinghouse Galleries, Newton Centre, MA, War, Madness & Delusion, juried group
2007
President’s Gallery, LaGuardia Community College, New York, NY, Soldiers and Terrorists, one-person; Gallery 311, New York, NY, Soldiers and Terrorists II, one-person
2006
Gallery 311, New York, NY, Soldiers and Terrorists I, one-person
2005
Coalition for the Homeless, New York, NY, Benefit—Small Works, one-person studio show
Merz Gallery, Sag Harbor, NY, group
2004
Corridor Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, Angels, two-person, curated by Danny Simmons
Galeria Corona, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Angels, one-person
2003
Coalition for the Homeless, New York, NY, Benefit, one-person studio retrospective
2002
Corridor Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, Angels, two-person, curated by Danny Simmons
John Jay College, New York, NY, Art from Detritus, group
1999
Leonora Vega Gallery, New York, NY, Nuts and Bolts, one-person
1998
Goldstrom Gallery, New York, NY, Black and White, group
1997
Daniel Peretz Gallery, New York, NY, group
1996
Henry Street Settlement, New York, NY, group
1995
Michael Kisslinger Gallery, New York, NY, Leonard Rosenfeld Selected Work, one-person
Soho Biennial, group, New York, NY
NatWest Bank, New York, NY, Blues, one-person
Massman Gallery, Rockhurst College, Kansas City, MO, group
Eleven East Ashland Independent Art Space, Phoenix, AZ, group
1991
The Knitting Factory, New York, NY, Wires, one-person
1989
The Knitting Factory, New York, NY, Wires, one-person
1988
The Robert Kidd Gallery, Detroit, MI, group
Casa Del Lago (University of Mexico), Mexico City, Mexico, three-person
1986
Central Falls, New York, NY, Wires, one-person
1984
Simone Gallerie, New York, NY, Wires, one-person
1983
Kenkaleba House, New York, NY, group
1982
OK Harris Gallery, New York, NY, group
The Race Street Gallery, with OK Harris Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, group
1981
OK Harris Gallery, New York, NY, group
1980
OK Harris Summer Invitational, New York, NY, group
1978
The Brooklyn Museum, with Jacques Seligman Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, group
1976
Gloria Cortella Gallery, New York, NY, group
1975
The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA, group
1965
Martha Jackson Gallery, New York, NY, group
1963
Stryke Gallery, New York, NY, group
1962
Waverly Gallery, New York, NY, Grand Opening, First New York Showing - Leonard Rosenfeld, one-person
1960
Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY, Brooklyn and Long Island Artists exhibition (featured, among other artists, Philip Pearlstein and Larry Rivers)
SELECTED Press/Presentations
Miller Spies, Jonathan, “Bearden, Rosenfeld, Thompson, Gabriel. Afro-Haitian influence on 80s Downtown Art Scene,” Hanging Papers, January 24, 2023
Miller Spies, Jonathan, “Art on the Tracks,” Hanging Papers, October 4, 2022
Miller Spies, Jonathan, “Independence Days,” Hanging Papers, July 5, 2022
Hoffman, Janet, “The Life and Work of Leonard Rosenfeld—An Artist Ahead of his Time,” Lecture at LaGuardia Community College, New York, NY, May 31, 2022
Laster, Paul, “The Beat Goes on in the Art of Leonard Rosenfeld,” Whitehot Magazine, July 2017 (review of one-person Leonard Rosenfeld, Wire and Can Pieces: 1981–1991 show at Denise Bibro Fine Arts, New York, NY)
Hoffman, Janet, “Leonard Rosenfeld—A New York Original,” Lecture at the New Britain Museum of American Art, April 2015
Hoffman, Janet, “In Memory of Len Rosenfeld: The Len Rosenfeld Scholarship for Painting,” Lines from the League Student and Alumni Magazine, Summer 2012
Laster, Paul, “Unlocking Leonard Rosenfeld,” December, 2011
International Contemporary Artists, Vol. I. ICA Publishing, 2010
Shapiro, Julie. “From de Kooning to Hookers, 50 years in the Downtown art scene.” Downtown Express, Vol. 22, No. 15, August 21–27, 2009
Reisman, Anna, “Galeria Corona Scores a Coup!” Vallarta Tribune 364, March 29–April 4, 2004
“New York’s Landscape: A Multi-Media Show,” The New York Times (The City), March 19, 1997 (Review of Daniel Peretz Gallery group show)
Brown, Lesley-Ann, “Leonard Rosenfeld,” One World, September 30, 1995 (review of Michael Kisslinger one-person show)
Johnson, Richard. “No sale.” New York Post. May 3, 1989 (Review of Knitting Factory one-person show)
“New York Painters Show Mexican Inspired Works,” The Mexico City News, February 16, 1988
“Pintores de Nueva York: Borofsky, Rosenfeld y Wechsler en la Casa del Lago,” Gaceta UNAM, February 11, 1988
“A Painter Lost to Painting,” publication not identified, February 1984 (?) (review of Simone Gallerie show)
“The Un-Schnabel Side, Going North.” publication not identified, October 1980 (?) (simultaneous with Julian Schnabel broken plate paintings opening at Mary Boone across from OK Harris)
Grants, INVITATIONALS (JURIED)
2021 Blue Lake, juried biennial, Denise Bibro Fine Arts, New York, NY
2013 Sneaker-X (graffiti), 24th International Juried Exhibition (group show invitational), curated by Elisabeth Sussman, Whitney Museum, Viridian Artists, New York, NY
1981 Grant, Edna St. Vincent Millay Art Colony, Austerlitz, NY
Museum Representation
Baby Blue Eyes and Champ w/Cowboys and Indians (wires), New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT
Jumpers (9/11), National September 11 Memorial & Museum at Ground Zero, New York, NY
Kaddish (soldiers), LaGuardia Community College, New York, NY
Untitled (large framed 1957 construction drawing), Art Students League of New York Permanent Collection, New York, NY
Pony (Coney Island), Museo de Peter Gray, University of Guadalajara, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
