Jill Kupin Rose (1944 - 1996) was a visionary cultural force, serving for fifteen years on the board of the International Center of Photography (ICP), later becoming its president and leading the expansion and renovation of its headquarters, helping transform ICP into one of the city’s most significant cultural institutions. Guided by instinct, scholarship, and close relationships within the photography world, Jill was also a respected curator who shaped important private collections, including The Cruz Collection, presented at ICP in 1985 in the exhibition Modernist Masterworks to 1925: From “the deLIGHTed eye” and later sold at auction in 2013. A discerning and deeply engaged collector, Jill was the driving force behind the formation of the Rose Collection itself, assembling it with conviction and foresight at a moment when the market for early modernist photography was still emerging.

A patron in the fullest sense, Marshall Rose (1937 - 2025), former chairman emeritus of the New York Public Library, demonstrated a lifelong and deeply civic commitment to the arts. A trustee for more than three decades and board chair for two terms, he played a pivotal role in revitalizing the Library’s Beaux-Arts landmark on Fifth Avenue and transforming adjacent Bryant Park into a vibrant public oasis. He championed major capital initiatives, including the creation of the Milstein Research Stacks, the establishment of the Science, Industry and Business Library, and renovations to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. Elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Mr. Rose was a trusted advisor to cultural organizations nationwide. In 2019, the Library recognized his lasting contributions with the dedication of a new plaza and entrance on West 40th Street in his name.

Following Jill’s passing in 1996, the New York Public Library honored her legacy by establishing the Jill Kupin Rose Gallery in 1998 within the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. Today, her influence endures in the extraordinary collection she so thoughtfully built and lived with for decades—an enduring testament to a shared vision that, together with Marshall’s steadfast support, helped define a generation of collecting.