Henry Rossmann

Henry A. Rossmann was a portrait painter based in New York City.[1] He was born in Austria on September 9, 1886 [2] and immigrated to the U.S. in 1921 (age 35) with his German-born wife, Mary.[3] In 1930 they lived at 552 West 171st Street (as renters) - an area of the city known as Washington Heights.[4] By 1943 Rossmann's address was 810 West 183rd Street.[5] Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt Jr. had her portrait painted by Rossmann, and was willing to serve as a reference for his portraits.[6] Rossmann died in Manhatten at the age of 63, on November 27, 1950.[7]

1. An entry in the New York Public Library's 'Artist Files' contains letters of reference by sitters for his portraits. Art Reference Department, New York Public Library.

2. Draft card (civilian draft). With gratitude to Ms. Sachiko Clayton, U.S. History, Local History and Genealogy Department, New York Public Library.

3. Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930.

4. Ibid.

5. ISU Correspondence with the artist Lynette: Please verify. This address is in Manhattan's Hudson Heights neighborhood (area of the city's highest elevation), which was home to many European Jews escaping Nazism in the 1930s and 40s.

6. See footnote 1.

7. New York City Death Index 1888-1965, Microfilm via Family History Library, Film #1324925