Rene di Rosa (May 14, 1919–October 3, 2010) was an American

vintner A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to dete ...

and art collector.

Personal life

Rene di Rosa was born in Boston and graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

where he was editor of the '' Yale Daily News''. He took a job in 1950 as a reporter for the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...

'' after serving in World War II and then spending some time in Paris. Di Rosa married artist Veronica McDonald (1934-1991) in 1974.

Winery Lake Vineyard

In 1960, di Rosa purchased 460 acres of land in Carneros region in the Napa Valley. Sullivan gives the size of the purchase as 400 acres. On a 250-acre portion of that land, in an area once known as Talcoa Vineyard, di Rosa planted grapes and called his new fields the Winery Lake Vineyard. Prial gives the size of the planted field as 225 acres. Di Rosa produced Chardonnay and Pinot noir on site, but he received the most accolades for the grapes he sold to other vineyards in the region, including Belvedere and Acacia. In 1979, di Rosa was a founding partner of Hagafen Cellars, along with Ernie Weir, Zach Berkowitz, and Norm Miller. In 1986, di Rosa sold the Winery Lake Vineyard to Joseph E. Seagram & Sons and used the money to invest in his art collection.

Art collection

Di Rosa became acquainted with the Northern California counterculture artists in San Francisco's North Beach when he first arrived in the 1950s. He became very involved in collecting Northern California art in the 1960s while taking viticulture classes at UC Davis, whose art department included

Robert Arneson Robert Carston Arneson (September 4, 1930 – November 2, 1992) was an American sculpture, sculptor and professor of Ceramic art, ceramics in the Art department at University of California, Davis for nearly three decades. Early life and educa ...

Roy De Forest Roy De Forest (11 February 1930 – 18 May 2007) was an American Painting, painter, Sculpture, sculptor, and teacher. He was involved in both the Funk art and Nut art movements in the Bay Area of California. De Forest's art is known for its quirk ...

, and

William T. Wiley William Thomas Wiley (October 21, 1937April 25, 2021) was an American artist. His work spanned a broad range of media including drawing, painting, sculpture, film, performance, and pinball. At least some of Wiley's work has been referred to as ...

, among others. Di Rosa's collection consists of works of art spanning Bay Area movements such as assemblage, the

Bay Area Figurative Movement The Bay Area Figurative Movement (also known as the Bay Area Figurative School, Bay Area Figurative Art, Bay Area Figuration, and similar variations) was a mid-20th Century art movement made up of a group of artists in the San Francisco Bay Area wh ...

Funk Art Funk art is an American art movement that was a reaction against the nonobjectivity of abstract expressionism. An anti-establishment movement, Funk art brought figuration back as subject matter in painting again rather than limiting itself to th ...

, and

Conceptual Art Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called insta ...

. Key artists include

Joan Brown Joan Brown (born Joan Vivien Beatty; February 13, 1938 – October 26, 1990) was an American figurative painter who lived and worked in Northern California. She was a member of the "second generation" of the Bay Area Figurative Movement.Glu ...

Jay DeFeo Jay DeFeo (March 31, 1929 – November 11, 1989) was a visual artist who first became celebrated in the 1950s as part of the spirited community of Beat artists, musicians, and poets in San Francisco. Best known for her monumental work ''The Rose' ...

Viola Frey Viola Frey (August 15, 1933 – July 26, 2004) was an American artist working in sculpture, painting and drawing, and professor emerita at California College of the Arts. She lived and worked in the San Francisco Bay Area and was renowned for her ...

Peter Voulkos Peter Voulkos (born Panagiotis Harry Voulkos; 29 January 1924 – 16 February 2002) was an American artist of Greek descent. He is known for his abstract expressionist ceramic sculptures, which crossed the traditional divide between ceramic ...

, Robert H. Hudson,

Bruce Conner Bruce Conner (November 18, 1933 – July 7, 2008) was an American artist who worked with assemblage, film, drawing, sculpture, painting, collage, and photography. Biography Bruce Conner was born November 18, 1933 in McPherson, Kansas.His well- ...

Manuel Neri Manuel John Neri Jr. (April 12, 1930October 18, 2021) was an American sculptor who is recognized for his life-size figurative sculptures in plaster, bronze, and marble. In Neri's work with the figure, he conveys an emotional inner state that is re ...

, Carlos Villa,

Nathan Oliveira Nathan Oliveira (December 19, 1928 – November 13, 2010) was an American painter, printmaker, and sculptor, born in Oakland, California to immigrant Portuguese parents. Since the late 1950s, Oliveira has been the subject of nearly one hundred ...

, Richard Shaw, David Best, and more. Di Rosa housed his collection in a historic home (formally of Talcoa Vineyard) and additional buildings he constructed on his property, most of which is classified as a nature preserve under the Land Trust of Napa County. In 1997, he opened the property, dubbed the di Rosa Preserve, to visitors. In 2000, the collection and property was incorporated as a public trust. In 2002, di Rosa stepped down and the institution's first executive director, Jack Rasmussen, was hired. Now referred to simply as

di Rosa di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art is a non-profit art center in Napa, California. di Rosa maintains a collection of approximately 1,600 works of art by Northern California artists including Robert Arneson, Bruce Conner, Jay DeFeo, Tony Labat, ...

, the organization maintains the collection, organizes rotating contemporary art exhibitions, and presents educational and public programs.

References

External links

Website for di Rosa
{{DEFAULTSORT:di Rosa, Rene American art collectors American winemakers 1919 births 2010 deaths San Francisco Chronicle people People from Boston Yale University alumni