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.
Love's Armor
Sculpture
Painted assemblage in form of dress
1947
Mixed media
Sculpture
AR1947
SFMOMA Rental Gallery
Purchase
Nancy Youdelman
2000
Object
49 in
36-1/2 in
4-1/2 in
Far Out
August 2 - October 4, 2025, di Rosa SF
Curator
2022
Nancy Youdelman (b. 1948, New York City) is a mixed media sculptor who lives and works in Clovis, California. A student of Judy Chicago, she participated in the 1972 Womanhouse and remains a prominent figure in the Feminist Art Movement. Her work is in many private and public collections including the Brooklyn Museum, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Love’s Armor reflects her longtime practice of transforming feminine garments into sculptural objects by addition of found objects and encaustic. It evokes the vicissitudes of feminine experience; and the need to defend love in all its forms.