Samuel Rosenberg: Portrait of a Painter

University of Pittsburgh Press, 2003. Hardcover. Like New/Very Good. 8x0x10. Samuel Rosenberg started his career by painting portraits. He painted a Self-Portrait in 1919, which showed he was a confident young artist and his use of light in his paintings. In 1920 he had his first exhibition the Carnegie International. During 1930s, Rosenberg's paintings were portraying the happiness and difficulties of life of the black and Jewish neighborhoods in the Hill District. He also painted scenes of the city, which was inspired by Pittsburgh's big hills, dirty air, uneven houses built on the hills, and the gloomy tones around him. His painting, Eviction, of 1935, shows the impact how the Depression affected residents of the Hill District. He liked being part of the Pittsburgh community, and he used many of his paintings to show how Pittsburgh looked like before redevelopment. After World War II started, Rosenberg started to paint allegorical scenes, where he used Jewish signs. In his paintings, the artist shows human misery during the war and the events of the Holocaust. He portrayed persecution of Jews in Europe. In the 1950s, his paintings became more abstract, where he liked using light, colors, and shapes. Samuel Rosenberg painted for almost six decades in the twentieth century, during the Great Depression, and 2 World Wars. He made over 500 paintings during his 57-year career.