9-8-09 The Noel Rockmore Project Update

Noel at Opening
Greetings!

Greetings! What an exciting Noel Rockmore Project summer we had!
 
There were so many new people that we met and fantastic Rockmore paintings, photos and stories that surfaced. We went Rockmore Adventuring with Shirley Marvin to New Orleans, Mandeville LA, McComb MS, Bay St. Louis MS, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Newport Beach, Pasadena, Los Angeles, Oakland, Palo Alto, Coral Gables FL, North Port, Aventura, Hallandale and New York City! Shirley was the star of the show at every stop and inspirational to what you can do at 87 when you stay healthy and active. We realize how lucky we are to be a part of the Noel Rockmore Project that she has always believed in.
 
The above photo of Noel Rockmore in a tux at his biggest NYC Opening in November 1967 at Greer Gallery is just one of the many treasures we uncovered. There is a New York Daily News article that goes with this photo and explains the events surrounding the opening hosted by Victor Potamkin (famous NYC Auto dealer) and Sergio Franchi (famous tenor).
 
Seems that at the time of his biggest gala opening with 700 invited special guests and art critics, riots broke out on the streets of NYC concentrated around the nearby New York Hilton where Dean Rusk was to speak. All traffic was stopped in the area and rioters and police were everywhere as Noel jumped out of his stopped cab and raced to his opening. He arrived on time but no one else did except for some of the rioters looking to cause trouble with the guests who were unable to get to the gallery.
 
Rockmore's life as an artist was often plagued with interruptions by forces beyond his control....... and at other times by forces completely under his control. His life was filled with highs and lows and always interesting that is for sure!
 
Below you will find two Rockmores coming up for auction next weekend at Neal Auction and one by Rockmore's mother, Gladys Rockmore Davis. We have also posted the Rockmore results from New Orleans Auction last month.
 
Thank You so much to all that hosted us and welcomed us into their homes and shared their lives with us this summer. As this first round of documentation comes to a close in September, we wish to put out one last call to any folks that have artwork to document as well as letters and photographs of Noel Rockmore.
 
Please let us hear from you asap! 
 

*****  Recent Auction Updates   ****
Rockmore works at Neal Auction this coming weekend - 9/12 & 9/13/09
 
Lot # 338  - "Punch and Judy with the Argonauts" ( 67 x 53 in) Oil, acrylic/canvas, gold leaf vent stacks tubing mixed media/canvas (gold leaf vent stacks tubing mixed media/canvas) Signed dated -87-88 / Bas Gauche Estimate  $8,000 - $12,000
1 Punch & Judy Full
About this work:
#1) It appeared in the "Fantasies and Realities" Brochure from 1998 as part of NOMA's retrospective on Rockmore. We would love to include it in any publication or show in the future.2 Punch & Judy in studio
3 Face
#2) Above is a depiction of the work in progress at Rockmore's studio and a close up of the head.
The head shows the matrix/grid patterns which were soon to become a part of Rockmore's style in 1989. He also includes parts of the Immigration series - the men with the word balloons, the Portal and Tubes series with the string attaching them, the boat from the Bon Voyage series and of course Punch & Judy. Three major series all in one work.
4 Punch & Judy & Portals
#3) Only Rockmore could "literally" tie Punch & Judy in with the Argonauts and three of his series. There is so much to look at and to try to figure out in this piece that it becomes a great mystery to uncover as well as a great work of art.
 
Lot # 958 "French Quarter Scene"  - ( 24x36 in)  Oil/canvas Signed dated -80-81 / Bas Droite Estimate  $1,500 - $2,500
6 French Quarter scene
About this work: This was from a time when Rockmore was living in the French Quarter and just starting to show work at the newly opened Sandra Zahn Oreck Gallery. Nude women in red shoes wandering the streets of the French Quarter with a dream like bubble technique, the recurring dog - usually all black but spotted here - and the tell tale Rockmore urn by his signature. Rockmore was unique yet strangely consistent in his own way. We would love to know exactly where this is in the French Quarter for any of you Quarterites.
 
Lot # 339  "Disrobing: Portrait of H. McGill" by Gladys Rockmore Davis - ( 30 x 25 in) Oil/canvas "G.R.D" / Bas Droite Estimate  $1,000 - $1,500
 8 Gladys Back9 53 December American Artist GRD - Cover - Plea for Standards
About this work: This was by Noel Rockmore's mother Gladys Rockmore Davis and the oil up for auction displays her noted expertise in exquisite half nude portraits from behind. The drawing which is the study for this oil made the cover of American Artist in 1953. Gladys was one of the most celebrated artist of her time and made several covers including Life Magazine and Art News. She was not as prolific as Rockmore with only about 600 known works but she was celebrated in her lifetime and this is one of her finest works.
 
Thoughts about this work: The fact that Neal Auction is auctioning this work right after Rockmore's Punch & Judy and the Argonauts means that lots of folks are strating to make the connections. We would be happy to take this Gladys work on tour as well as we tell the story of "The First Family of American Art."
 
Results from New Orleans Auction Gallery August 9th 2009 Auction
 
 LOT # 780  "Premonition of Sarajevo, Three Generals in Search of a War", 1992, graphite, ink, watercolor and collage, signed and dated upper right "Rockmore '92 Feb-Mar-Aug", titled upper right, sight 14-3/4" x 20-1/4". Glazed, handsomely matted and framed.
ESTIMATE    $1500 - $2500  Sold for $1680
 sarajevo

LOT #782  "Nefertiti", 1989, graphite, ink and watercolor on paper, titled middle right - misspelled by the artist as "Nefertititi", signed and dated middle right "Rockmore Sep '89, 23, 1am", with "Bryant Galleries, New Orleans" label en verso, sheet 8-1/2" x 11".
ESTIMATE    $600 - $900 Sold for $1080

Nerfetiti 
 
 
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