In the pretrials in that little courtroom, that’s when the sketching started. You had a drawing that captured Ghislaine Maxwell drawing you, which people were very struck by. And there were no computer monitors blocking my view. During the pretrial, I was allowed to sit in the jury box - it was a small courtroom. It’s so different from when I started 41 years ago. That seems like such a metaphor - technology intruding on a historical art practice. I couldn’t see it clearly enough because there are giant computer monitors blocking so much. I did use them once when the little black book was taken out and there were little Post-its stuck on. So I’m far back, and not only do I bring my prescription binoculars I have a more powerful pair. In the old days, before the pandemic, they put the sketch artists in the front row. I’m in the back - the fourth row, getting a view between two marshals.ĭo you have a device you use to magnify, to zoom in? I have to get there early and secure a seat and get a good angle. I have to sort of guess through looking at a picture online. You can’t really go to a store in New York anymore and buy art supplies. The courtroom is very dark in the background. I ordered like $200-something worth of pastels. Today I had to spend hours cleaning my pastels, ordering new ones. I get to court - well, there’s a lot involved before I start drawing. Intelligencer spoke on the phone with Rosenberg about her long work history, and what it felt like when Ghislaine Maxwell turned the tables and sketched her. Her work is handmade throughout, though sometimes, after the fact and just for herself, she fixes perceived mistakes using the stylus on a Galaxy Note9. She lives uptown with her husband, a lawyer, and sells her oil paintings at Simie Maryles in Provincetown.
It’s a role she is accustomed to the Brooklyn native, who once aspired to be an art teacher, has been drawing defendants since 1980. Courtroom sketch artist Jane Rosenberg serves as the public’s eyes at the Ghislaine Maxwell trial, which began its second week on Monday.