Sixty Years of Painting with Passion – A Career in Review

Throughout her career, spiritual and mystical elements flavored Rosita’s compositions, for which she drew inspiration from the dance, meditation, Nature, books, and poetry. 

Barbara Kimenye, a writer for the Nairobi Daily Nation, met Rosita in Israel in 1973 and described her work thusly:  “Her pictures are startling in their boldness of color and composition. All of her canvases throw the imagination into the throes of the unknown.”

Rosita studied at the Art Students League in New York, under Hans Hoffmann and other outstanding teachers, and later in Mexico at the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes.  In Mexico, she studied and worked under David Alfredo Siquieros, one of the greatest muralists of the past century, and followed in the footsteps of well-known artists like Frida Kahlo, Leonora Carrington, and Remedios Varo.

The Mexico art scene enthusiastically welcomed Rosita, a newcomer to the country, with her very first show there in 1965.  During the following years, her exhibitions in Mexico City always attracted considerable attention in the media, as these clippings vividly show.

“Road without Return,” 1974, was shown in the Race, Racism, Genocide, and Holocaust Exhibition at the National University of Mexico, 1981.  The painting belongs to the permanent collection of the Yad Vashem Museum (World Holocaust Center) in Jerusalem. 

Rosita’s connection to the Holocaust was through her father, Louis Feigenblatt, a fine tailor/suit cutter in San Jose, Costa Rica.  Louis had been born in Lodz, Poland, and escaped from there to avoid being conscripted into the Russian Army.  He fled to England and met his wife Millie, then moved to Belgium.  In Belgium he learned of the need in Costa Rica for a tailor, and being an adventuresome individual, he resettled there in the late 1920s with wife, a son, and a daughter.  Rosita was born in Costa Rica in 1930.  Her father’s business flourished and he became a sought-after tailor for the wealthy and influential class in the country. In the late 1930s he used his friendship with Leon Cortes, then the president of the country, to help open the door for Jews fleeing the Nazi expansion in Europe to enter the country.  Today, there are many descendants of these original Jews living in Costa Rica.  

Throughout her career, Rosita’s artwork and exhibitions were the subject of many articles and reviews.

You can see Rosita’s many clippings on her website.  They include the Mexico City News, Mexico City Excelsior, Israel’s Yediot Aharonot, the Nairobi Daily Nation, Art Scene Magazine (Los Angeles), the Los Angeles Times, the American Club Magazine of Hong Kong, Taiwan’s foremost art magazine, and in LACSA’s World, the inflight publication of Costa Rica’s national airline.  Los Angeles’ Spanish-language television stations also spotlighted her work.

In 1989, Rosita visited her native Costa Rica for the first time in 25 years.  She was initially stunned when she saw how population growth and ranching had decimated so much of the natural beauty she remembered from her youth. 

At the same time, she was inspired by the work of the Costa Rican government to protect remaining parklands and preserves.  The government’s actions have made Costa Rica a model for global rainforest conservation and for eco-tourism. 

After her visit, Rosita launched a series dedicated to rainforest conservation and to the leadership example that Costa Rica has set for the rest of the world.  The first several paintings in the series she called “Going Back Home.”  This was her first painting – “Las Nubes” (The clouds) – inspired by the parade of clouds that create a constant drama in the skies over Costa Rica. 

Later, she chose another title: “the rainforest series,” because what she was painting was beyond the experience of going back home.  She was fascinated and enchanted by the natural beauty of her homeland. 

She exhibited her rainforest paintings in Costa Rica, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Orange County, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

Rosita remained with the rainforest series for the rest of her painting life; it was the last and longest series of paintings that she did. She painted rainforest images for 25 years, and had her last show in 2015.  

Rosita’s dedication to promoting rainforest conservation was recognized by the Costa Rica government, and in numerous articles. The following article appeared in American Lifestyle Magazine following her passing in 2016.   

Rosita loved and lived the arts.  For years, into her fifties, she participated in regular dance classes – from ballet to modern. 

For the last 40 years of her life she was a devoted practitioner of Transcendental Meditation.  The image below was the last oil painting she completed, in March of 2015, entitled “King of the Birds.”  It was based on a story that Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of the Transcendental Meditation movement, adapted from the Upanishads about love and persistence.     

Rosita lived in numerous places during her life: her birthplace Costa Rica, New York City, Miami, Panama City, Mexico City, Be-er Sheva and Tel Aviv in Israel, London, and in the Los Angeles area.

SELECTED INDIVIDUAL EXHIBITIONS AND PRESENTATIONS

-- Galeria del Mundo, EcoStation, Culver City, February 2001.

-- Galeria Sister Karen Boccalero, Olvera Street, Los Angeles, August 1999

-- Blue Moon Gallery, Santa Monica, summer 1998.

-- Children’s Museum (Museo del Nino), San Jose, Costa Rica, November 1997.

-- Tustin Renaissance Gallery, Tustin, May-June 1996.

-- Artinasia Gallery, Hong Kong, December 1995-January 1996.

-- 201 California Gallery, San Francisco, 1995.

-- National Audubon Society, Los Angeles, 1995.

-- Lakes Gallery International, Taipei (Taiwan), 1993.      

-- Palmcrest House Senior Eye Gallery, Long Beach, 1992.

-- Celebrity benefit screening of "At Play In The Fields of the Lord," for Universal Studios and Rainforest Action Network,                       Los Angeles, December 1991.

-- Palmcrest House Senior Eye Gallery, Long Beach, 1987.

-- Design Center Theater Art Gallery, Los Angeles, 1985.

-- Mexican-North American Institute, Mexico City, 1983.

-- Galeria Mer-Kup, Mexico City, 1983.

-- Galeria Wolmy, Mexico City, 1983.

-- Senior Eye Gallery, Long Beach, 1982.

-- Westwood Center of the Arts, Los Angeles, 1981.

-- Galeria Wolmy, Mexico City, 1980.

-- Galeria del Centro Deportivo Israelita, Mexico City, 1979.

-- Galeria Wolmy, Mexico City, 1979.

-- Wexler-Weiss Gallery, Encino, 1978.

-- S. Harris Gallery, Pacific Design Center, Los Angeles, 1977.

-- Los Angeles Public Library, 1976.

-- University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1975.

-- Israel Philharmonic, Tel Aviv, honoring Maestro Mikhail Rostropovich, 1974.

-- Woodstock Gallery, London, 1973.

-- Old Jaffo Gallery, Tel Aviv, 1973.

-- Haramati Gallery, Tel Aviv, 1972.

-- Galeria del Centro Deportivo Israelita, Mexico City, 1971.

-- Galeria Barrilaco, Mexico City, 1970.

-- Galeria Chapultepec (Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes), Mexico City, 1969.

-- Galeria Lepe, Puerto Vallarta, 1968.

-- Galeria del Centro Deportivo Israelita, Mexico City, 1967.

-- Galeria de May Brooks, Mexico City, 1966.

-- Galeria Chapultepec (Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes), Mexico City, 1966.

-- Galeria Excelsior, Mexico City, 1965.

-- Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, Panama City, 1963.

SELECTED COLLECTIVE EXHIBITIONS

-- Latino Art Museum, Pomona (California), 2017

-- Thousand Oaks (California) Civic Arts Plaza, 2015

-- Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach (California), March 2004.

-- Tustin Renaissance Gallery, 1996.

-- Artinasia Gallery, Hong Kong, 1996.

-- Ladie John Dill Studio (benefiting Rainforest Action Network), Venice (California), 1995.

-- Opts Gallery, San Francisco, December 1994.

-- Mandarin Oriental Hotel Fine Arts Gallery, Hong Kong, and American Club, Hong Kong, May 1994.

-- Lakes Gallery International, Taipei, January 1994.

-- Lakes Gallery International, Taipei, August 1993.

-- Artinasia Gallery, Hong Kong, October 1995.

-- Gordon Gallery, Santa Monica, 1991.

-- Jewish Federation of Los Angeles, "winter '85 Art Show."

-- Laguna Beach Museum of Art Invitational, 1984.

-- Brand Library, Glendale, Artists Equity Collective, 1982.

-- National University of Mexico, "Race, racism, genocide and holocaust," 1981.

-- Museum of Science and Industry, Artists Equity Salute to Los Angeles Bicentennial, 1980.

-- Riggs Gallery, San Diego, Thoroughbred Racing Exhibit, 1980.

-- Laguna Beach Museum of Art Invitational, 1976.

-- The City of Tiberias (Israel), City Hall, 1972.

-- The City of Tel Aviv (Israel), City Hall, 1972.

-- Galeria Aleph, Mexico City, 1970.

-- Mexico City Municipal Gallery of Art, 1966.

-- Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, Mexico City, "Women in the arts," 1968, 1967.

COLLECTIONS

● Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, Mexico City ● Estate of the late Mexican President Adolfo López Mateos ●

● Museum of the Holocaust, Jerusalem ● Museum of Modern Art, Jerusalem ●

●The Korenbrot Family (Israel, Alicia, Juan, Frida), Mexico City, Tel Aviv, Tiburon, California ● Eli and Denise Anderman, Mexico City ●  ● Vicky Felix, Cuernavaca ●  Eduardo Luis Feher, Mexico City ● Dr. Norman and Leslee Brooks, Encino, California ●

● Palmcrest House Convalescent Home, Long Beach, California, and Dr. Julian Feingold, Bermuda Dunes, California ●

● Whoopi Goldberg ● Estate of the late Sallye and Saul Gould, Las Vegas ● Bruce Thacker, Murrieta, California ●

● Dr. Kimberly Hoffmann, Redondo Beach, California ●  Doug and Ruth Kaufmann, Rockwell, Texas ● Lea Mizrahi, Beverly Hills ●

● Brian Calvert, Warminster, England ● Montague Guild and Family, Pacific Palisades, California ●

● John and Helen Molinari, South Orange, New Jersey ● Art and Emily Lubin, Oak Harbor, Washington ●

● Ruth Sharone, Culver City, California ●  Arie Fleischer, Los Angeles ● Anna Cohen, Canoga Park, California ●