Advocating for the Beauty of the Everyday
The Rizo Collection preserves and exhibits American realism, Appalachian art, and regional works that celebrate everyday life, culture, and overlooked artistic voices across West Virginia and beyond.
About
The Rizo Collection
The Rizo Collection is a not-for-profit initiative led by Jose L. Rizo, a collector, curator, and advocate for the arts in Southern West Virginia. The collection features over 2,000 works, with a strong emphasis on 20th-century American Realists, alongside contemporary and regional artists.
Explore the Collection
Featured Works
Explore selected paintings, portraits, and American scene works from The Rizo Collection featuring regional artists, Appalachian subjects, and historically significant artwork.
HAPPENING NOW
Discover current exhibitions, public programs, and featured collections presented by The Rizo Collection throughout West Virginia, highlighting American art and regional cultural history.
The Collection
American Realism, Appalachian Access
The Rizo Collection is rooted in Jose’s deep interest in early 20th-century American art, especially the realist movements that turned attention toward everyday life. Ashcan School artists, Depression Era painters, American Scene artists, regional realists, and working artists all share a common thread: they captured people, streets, labor, neighborhoods, landscapes, and ordinary moments with honesty and force.
That same spirit guides the collection today. Jose is drawn to artists who documented the world around them, whether in New York streets, small-town America, Appalachian communities, or quiet interior scenes. Many of these artists were highly skilled but under-recognized, remembered only through scattered auction records, family archives, or private collections.
The Rizo Collection exists to bring those works - and those stories - back into view.