Biography
Rosalie Ritz studied art at the Layton Art School, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and later at the Artists' Co-op Studio in Washington, D.C. Prior to her career as a courtroom artist, her paintings, drawings, and sculpture were exhibited at numerous galleries, including the Smithsonian and the Corcoran Museum in Washington.
In 1966 Ritz moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. There, she began work as a free-lance courtroom artist for KPIX-TV (a San Francisco CBS affiliate), and the Associated Press, among others. Ritz provided in-depth visual coverage as trials progressed, making up to eighteen drawings a day of many high-profile cases of the late 1960s and 1970s. These images were broadcast by television news shows and reproduced in print media.
In 1972 Ritz was presented with a Special Award for Art by the Associated Press. Her drawings have been exhibited at Gilbert Galleries, San Francisco, at San Francisco State University, and at other Bay Area community venues.
From the guide to the Rosalie Ritz courtroom drawings, 1968-1982, (The Bancroft Library)
