Rosa Rivero

Rosa Rivero was an artist active between 1940 and 1942, whose documented career focused on contributions to the Index of American Design. This project, undertaken by the Federal Art Project, required detailed, documentary renderings of historic American decorative arts and craft items.

Five works by Rivero are represented in museum collections, confirming her role in illustrating and preserving records of American material culture. All five of these Index of American Design pieces are held by the National Gallery of Art. The documented works include precise renderings of furniture and domestic objects, such as the Bureau, Gothic Chair, Day Bed, Triangular Corner Safe, and Wardrobe.

The specific, descriptive nature of her illustrations makes reproductions of Rosa Rivero prints highly valuable for historical and design study. Because this work was produced under a federal mandate, much of the resulting catalog is now accessible as public domain art, often available for researchers seeking high-quality prints of 18th and 19th-century American furnishings.