Alex J. Rosenberg of New York and Water Mill died on Friday July 22 at his home in Manhattan. He was 103.
His many friends and loved ones will remember him as a passionate defender of human rights and an active art appraiser and dealer up until the day he died.
After growing up in Brooklyn, Rosenberg served as a World War II Army Air Corps navigator and pilot, a delegate to the 1968 Democratic National Convention, a vice president of the Center for Constitutional Rights (2004-16), and he was a lifelong champion of civil liberties.
Professionally, he was an expert art appraiser and a past president of the Appraisers Association of America. He was also a successful gallerist, art dealer, and publisher of fine art prints, working with such renowned artists as Salvador Dali, Alexander Calder, Romare Bearden, Lee Krasner, and Henry Moore, to name just a few.
Rosenberg spearheaded litigation which opened the United States to the import of Cuban art, and he thereafter consistently advocated for Cuban artists. In 1995, he received Cuba’s highest cultural award, “Por la Cultura National.” Later, he earned a Doctorate from Havana’s Instituto Superior de Arte, culminating with the publication of his first book, “The Art, Science, and Business of Appraising” (2003).
He also participated in many civic activities in Israel and served as a trustee of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.
He is survived by his wife Carole; sister Sylvia Fogelman; his late brother’s husband Jeffrey Ankrom; sons Andrew and Lawrence Rosenberg (Pam Hackett); two stepsons, Kenneth and Michael Halsband; grandchildren Kyle Rosenberg, Katy Rosenberg Winn, Jacob and Isaac Halsband; and three great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held on Tuesday, August 9 at 10:30 a.m. at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, 30 West 68th Street, New York City. In lieu of flowers, donations to Stephen Wise Free Synagogue would be appreciated.
Staff Writer on Aug 2, 2022