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.
California Dreamin'
Sculpture
Green cup with orange base and thin red handle
241
Slipcast low fire clay with overglaze
Sculpture
AR241
Braunstein/Quay Gallery
Purchase
Ron Nagle
1975
Object
5-1/4 in
3-1/4 in
2-3/4 in
Building A Different Model: Selections from the di Rosa Collection
March 9 - December 29, 2019, di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, Napa
Based on a True Story: Highlights from the di Rosa Collection
October 26, 2016 - October 15, 2017, di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, Napa
Curator
2016
On the heels of the early punk rock scene, Ron Nagle (also a student of Peter Voulkos) was in the studio recording an album with the New Wave band the Durocs. Nagle had already put out a solo album in 1970, and before that, formed the garage rock band Mystery Trend with friends from the San Francisco Art Institute; they shared the stage with Grateful Dead in the late 1960s. The Durocs didn’t last, but Nagle continued to write songs and compose sound effects for movies (notably The Exorcist [1973]), alongside his influential art practice. Wordplay from song lyrics subtly made its way into the titles of Nagle’s brightly colored, meticulously made ceramic works, nodding to the complexities underlying their perfectly applied glazes. California Dreamin’ (1975) shares a title with the 1965 hit by the Mamas and the Papas (for whom Nagle also wrote songs), which predated punk as a theme song of counterculture insurgency.