Photo: Steven Broadway
Richard Rosenfeld
New York-based artist Richard Rosenfeld got his art education at the Rhode Island School of Design and at the Parsons School of design, where he focused on fine art studies and illustration. He graduated in 1967.
His passion for drawing from the live model and being in the moment of observation began with all the life drawing classes the design schools required him to take within his major.
When the gay liberation movement launched in1969 with the eruption of the stonewall riots in the west village, the shift to celebrating gay pride kicked into high gear. What started as a local grassroots movement soon caught fire and forever changed the way the gay communities had been forced to exist discreetly in underground scenes to living and loving openly.
This extraordinary event impacted richard’s worldview as it did for millions of gay people and inspired new energy and expression.
For Richard, it was no longer satisfying to just draw the conventional academic nude male but to choose models that looked like his ideal. His preference for rough, ethnic, urban men who he booked to draw privately in his studio led to a body of work in the ’70s that caught the eye of Charles Leslie and Fritz Lohman, pioneering gay gallery owners and art collectors/dealers who also seized the moment and invited Richard to exhibit his work in their Soho gallery.
This established him as an emerging figurative artist alongside other creatives in his generation like Robert Mapplethorpe, Andy Warhol, Tom of Finland, David Hockney and Antonio Lopez who indulged in their appreciation of the male form…from the sensual to the erotic.
This website is created to showcase richard’s work from the 70’s, 80s, 90’s and today.
Though he is retired, he continues to draw from the live model both privately as well as via zoom live drawing sessions which have gained tremendous global popularity during the pandemic of 2020-2021.
His preferred medium is color pencils, oil pastels, and watercolor. He likes to draw on large sheets of 19x 24 white drawing paper.
Richard is available for portrait commissions where the subject/client can pose for him in person ( following all CDC safety measures) or via a live zoom session.
Prices upon request for all the work on this site. As well as for a portrait session.
Enjoy the work and stay safe.
Steven Broadway / curator.