di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art maintains a permanent collection of works by Northern California artists that was originally collected by Rene di Rosa (1919-2010) and Veronica di Rosa (1934–1991). The collection contains notable works by artists living or working in the San Francisco Bay Area from mid-twentieth century to the early twenty-first century, highlighting a story of experimentation of the artists of the region. It is displayed in part, on a rotating basis, in the galleries at di Rosa.
This page represents a just a portion of di Rosa’s rich permanent collection. Stay tuned as we continue to populate this page with artworks from our collection.
di Rosa strives to be a resource for educators, students and lifelong learners. For research inquiries, please contact curatorial@dirosaart.org.
Big Daddy's Palette
Sculpture
Large aluminum palette covered with emblems of Big Daddy Roth including Rat Fink
1126
Aluminum
Enamel
Sculpture
AR1126
Mincher/Wilcox Gallery
Purchase
Randy Hussong
1991
Inscription
Below proper left foot of "Rat Fink"
TM Roth 1963
Painted
crediting the imagery of "Rat Fink" as trademarked by Ed Roth, 1963
Object
45 in
72 in
60 in
Far Out
August 2 - October 4, 2025
An Absolute Native Glory: Selections from the di Rosa Preserve Collection
An Absolute Native Glory: Selections from the di Rosa Preserve
Collections Manager
Katie Kime
Jul 29, 2025
Title is in reference to Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, a car obsessed cartoonist and creator of "Rat Fink". "Rat Fink first appeared in the July 1963 issue of "Car Craft". Roth created "Rat Fink" as the antithesis of Mickey Mouse.