Rochelle Blumenfeld is an American artist from

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. Her paintings have been exhibited in many public and private collections, including the

Carnegie Museum of Art The Carnegie Museum of Art, is an art museum in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Originally known as the Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute and was at what is now the Main Branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsbur ...

. Her work has been included in the Bicentennial Exhibit of “American Painters in Paris” in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, France,

Copley Society of Art The Copley Society of art is America's oldest non-profit art association. It was founded in 1879 by the first graduating class of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and continues to play an important role in promoting its member artists and th ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...

Fife, Scotland, and the

Westmoreland Museum of American Art The Westmoreland Museum of American Art is an art museum in Greensburg, Pennsylvania devoted to American art, with a particular concentration on the art of southwestern Pennsylvania. Art lover Mary Marchand Woods bequeathed her entire estate to e ...

, Greensburg, Pennsylvania.

Biography

Rochelle Blumenfeld was born in

in 1936. Her grandparents were immigrants from the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. Her father, Lawrence Reznik, was a sign painter, also making window displays. Blumenfeld's grandfather, Harry Fairman, was an artist and a decorator for the wealthy neighborhoods in the East End of Pittsburgh. He encouraged her to start painting and inspired her to pursue art. Blumenfeld started taking art classes at the Carnegie Museum starting in 5th grade. In High School, she took an advanced art class in painting at the Carnegie Tech, which later became known as

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

. After graduation, she applied and was accepted as a Painting and Design student at

. She completed one year and left the university to get married. Blumenfeld missed painting, and she enrolled in a class at the Young Men and Women's Hebrew Association, which was taught by

Samuel Rosenberg (artist) Samuel Rosenberg (1896–1972) was an American artist and Professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. He showed his work at the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum in New York, the National Academy of Art in Washington, the ...

, who also taught

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

. Samuel Rosenberg was a big influence on her future as a painter. Rochelle Blumenfeld married Irving Blumenfeld in 1955. He was a co-founder of Gateway Paint Company in the Strip district of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. Together they had 3 children and 5 grandchildren.

Life as an artist

introduced Blumenfeld to the world of abstract art. She was inspired by life around her to reflect and make statements in her paintings. Blumenfeld used bold colors, light, and movement in her art to express herself. She was inspired by the natural shapes of the world around her, and paintings represent a period of changes. The artist stated "Life continually alters its course on an unknown journey, and coping is not always easy". In 1958, Rochelle Blumenfeld started exhibiting professionally, when she was accepted into the

Associated Artists of Pittsburgh Associated Artists of Pittsburgh (AAP) is the oldest, and largest nonprofit visual arts membership organization in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States and the oldest continuously exhibiting visual arts organization in America. History Associat ...

. This started a long career of exhibiting her work through the United States and Europe. In the 1970s Rochelle Blumenfeld had a one-person show at the

. In 1976 her paintings were included in the Bicentennial Exhibition, “Americans in Paris”, Paris, France. Blumenfeld showed her work with the

Scotland to honor

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...

at his birthplace. In the 1990s, Blumenfeld started a series of paintings representing Jewish holidays and Shabbat. Some of her Judaica paintings were included in the Hallmark Cards "Tree of Life" series in 1999. In 2000, Blumenfeld was inspired by seeing

Revelations (Alvin Ailey) ''Revelations'' is the best-known work of the Modern Dance choreographer Alvin Ailey. It is also the signature work of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, which premiered an extended version of the work (lasting over an hour) in 1960, when Ai ...

, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. She wanted to keep and share her memories of the dance, which started a series of paintings she named "Celebration of Spirit". In 2004, in conjunction with the Three Rivers Arts Festival, she had a one-person show of her ballet paintings at the

One Oxford Centre One Oxford Centre is one of the major distinctive and recognizable features of Downtown Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, United States. The complex is named for Oxford Development, the developer and previous owner. Among the commercial tenants of One ...

in Pittsburgh. In 2017 Blumenfeld exhibited "Hill District Paintings" which was very different from her other exhibits, as it tells a story of her family and the streets of the city where she grew up. In 2011 Blumenfeld had a conversation with her grandchildren that inspired the artist to use her paintings to recreate memories of diverse neighborhood with people of different ethnic backgrounds, all struggling to make a living during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Her grandson wanted to know where the cash register came from that he played with. Blumenfeld said that the cash register came from her grandfather's store on Logan Street,

. It came to her house after the store closed. Cash register became her first painting in this series. Painting the cash register triggered her other memories and she completed a total of 14 Hill District Paintings. The last painting in the series is her memory of a patriotic parade on Fifth Avenue during

, honoring the soldiers. Blumenfeld's "Hill District Paintings" were included in the documentary by Kenneth Love "Jewish Memories of the Hill District". Her grandfather Sam Reznik ran a store on Logan Street, where clothes hung from the ceiling. In 2020 Blumenfeld was included in the Master Visual Artists VII: Preserving the Legacy exhibition. It was hosted at the Heinz History Center of Pittsburgh in partnership with the Master Visual Artists Project – a local group dedicated to recognizing the lifelong achievements of influential artists in Southwestern Pennsylvania. The featured artists stories were documented to be preserved for future generations.

Publications

Blumenfeld's work has been published by Hallmark Cards, Kennedy Publishing, Allied Publications, and Hachai Publishing.

Awards

As a member of the

, Rochelle Blumenfeld received many awards including a

purchase award for their permanent collection in 1960., In 1966, Blumenfeld won first prize in a nationwide art contest, sponsored by Enjay Chemical Company.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blumenfeld, Rochelle 1936 births Carnegie Mellon University College of Fine Arts alumni 20th-century American painters American women painters Artists from Pittsburgh American conceptual artists Women conceptual artists Jewish American artists Living people 21st-century American women artists