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11-16-09 The Noel Rockmore Project Update |
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Actual 3-D Petrified CAT in Rockmore VooDoo work coming up for Auction this weekend.
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Greetings!
Hope your fall is going well as we head into the holiday season.
Ours has been very busy and we have much to update you on including a significant Auction at Neal Auction this weekend. Shirley Marvin was having such a good time on The Noel Rockmore Project this summer that she decided to stay on in Cape Cod until November 1st. She did not want to miss a thing and we had plenty of excitement for her.
We just completed visits with significant collectors and advisors as we attempt to march Noel Rockmore into the ArtWorld. We are trying to get our foot in the door and align with a/some major museums that would help get Noel Rockmore into the mainstream. In order to do that we put together two look books, one is 8X10's of the TOP 100 Rockmores we have seen so far that we could actually procure for a museum show. The second is the life of Noel Rockmore & his parents from 1925 through 1995 told in over 800 works and pictures we have documented in three years on the Rockmore trail. *Note - both of these books are draft works in progress - we will be soliciting your input as we get farther along in the process.
The selection of works to date was difficult/excruciating at times and fortunately we had input from Shirley Marvin, Noel's family and The Noel Rockmore Project Team. We viewed and culled through over 6500 Rockmore works that we have seen so far and we are now quite convinced that Rockmore did indeed create the 15,000 works he estimates he did in his lifetime.
We are getting quite an education on just getting a foot in the door of museums to pitch the idea of Rockmore. Our meetings in NYC with George Wein (founder of Newport & New Orleans JazzFest and Rockmore promoter 1970-1977) and Manny Greer (owner of Greer Gallery and Rockmore promoter 1961-1967) were productive and compelling on several levels. Noel Rockmore's son Chris, Tee and Rich, and Shirley Marvin were present at these meetings.
The most impressive thing was how sharp and vibrant these three octogenarians are as they continue to stay active and pursue their life passions of music, art and for Shirley, Rockmore recognition. Sometimes the lesson you think you are going to learn turns out to be completely different from the lesson you do learn - staying active and pursuing your dreams keeps you in great shape and your mind amazingly sharp.
While we still don't quite have a foot in the door anywhere, we do have some very good advice from our many friends and supporters including the following:
"nobody is going to want to help you until you prove you are Box Office (can sell tickets), as soon as folks smell money, you will have lots of offers to help, until then, you will have to do it all on your own."
"getting a major museum show will not mean Rockmore has made it, it is just a first step in the process you will be engaged in, you will have to keep putting his name out there continuously, its a long term process and it is ongoing, in Rockmore's case, it is worth it, he deserves it."
" you are now experiencing exactly what Rockmore experienced in his lifetime in trying to attain recognition from the powers that be ....... but you will succeed."
We'll be in touch soon with some new updates that are percolating even as we speak.
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*** Rockmore Works at Neal Auction this weekend 11/21-11/22*** |
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Lot # 1056 "Voodoo Queen", mixed media and organic material on canvas, signed and dated "83" lower center, inscribed "Marie Laveau" lower left and "New Orleans, The Voodoo Queen" lower right, 72 in. x 51 3/4 in., in a giltwood frame. Estimate $4000/6000
Facts: In 1983 Noel Rockmore was sent by Bryant Gallery to Haiti to create works for a show. He was accompanied by girlfriend Rita Posselt on what was to be quite an adventure in Haitian culture and experiences including Weddings, Cockfights and Voodoo ceremonies. Rockmore's early Haitian works were vibrant, colorful and descriptive and then he became consumed by creating VooDoo works. Below are two other significant works from this time period both are fantastic in size, scope and detail. The Astrologer is on the Left and VooDoo Ceremony is on the right - both TOP 100 Major Works.
Thoughts: Voodoo Queen is a Major Noel Rockmore piece on many counts. First and foremost, the 3-D Petrified Cat is unique and you will not find anything like it on any internet search for art. This piece is legendary and when we first started the project, we thought it was a myth, I mean who would include a petrified cat in a major artwork, NOEL ROCKMORE DID! Legend has it that it was found in his wall about the time he was doing this work and Rockmore - who was an animal lover - felt that it deserved to live on in his work. Also important is the tie in with famous New Orleans Voodoo Queen, Marie Laveau, so that it is both Haitian and New Orleans. Last but not least, this work is fascinating to look at and try to understand. Please let us know if/when you acquire this work - it is a signature work - Top 100 - worthy of a museum tour. 
Lot 1057. "French Market Patio", pastel on paper, signed and dated "87" lower right, sight 23 1/8 in. x 35 1/8 in., matted and framed. Estimate $1500/2500
 Facts: Noel Rockmore was accomplished in many mediums and his pastel works are exquisite. His mother, Gladys Rockmore Davis, actually wrote an early book on Pastel Painting. This scene from a French market Patio also has the New Orleans tie in and is part of a pastel series that he did in 1987 for Bryant Galleries.
Thoughts: This is about as far from the VooDoo work as you can get in many ways. Rockmore did have a need to pay the bills (always) and this might have been an attempt at something that was a little more commercially appealing. He was to also revisit his Preservation hall series during this brief pastel period.
Lot # 1074 "Booker T. from Life", oil on canvas, signed and titled lower right, titled and dated "Booker "T" Glass, 1970, N.O." on the edges, 12 7/8 in. x 9 1/8 in., unframed. $1500/2500
 Facts: Noel Rockmore's Jazz works are among his most sought after pieces, at this time. Booker T was one of his favorite subjects and appears on the 1st New Orleans Jazzfest Poster commissioned by George Wein in 1969.
Thoughts: This is a really nice Rockmore Jazz work and the fact that it is an oil makes it very attractive. It also has historical significance in that it ties into the JazzFest and the Preservation Hall series. Lot #1075 "Bar Fight", oil on canvas, signed, dated " '74", titled and inscribed "NYC" lower left, inscribed "Oil 3" en verso, 16 1/4 in. x 20 1/8 in., framed. Estimate $1200/1800
Facts: This work of a barfight corresponds to a time in 1974 when Rockmore has become interested in doing caricatures of people and places near and dear to him. His father, Floyd Davis, one of the Top Illustrators in American History, made a career out doing just these type of caricatures for Life and Saturday Evening Post. Rockmore also includes Gypsy Lou Webb sitting quietly on the far left in this Bar Fight at McGlades bar in NYC. Gypsy Lou Webb was a central figure in the bohemian movement of the 60's and another favorite Rockmore friend and subject.
Thoughts: Its a nice Rockmore oil and the estimate is quite reasonable. We just visited with Gypsy Lou Webb, 93, last week and asked her about her visit to NYC. She did not remember it which led us to believe Rockmore might have added her as an afterthought upon his return to New Orleans. On the day that we visited to present Gypsy Lou with some poster size prints of works Rockmore had done of her, her 95 year old sister and housemate had fallen and had to be hospitalized and eventually placed in a nursing home. When we asked Lou what she would do next, she simple said, "I'll get up tomorrow and go to the senior center and be glad that I made it through another day. At my age, you really don't plan much farther ahead than that."
- Sometimes the lesson you think you are going to learn turns out to be much different from the lesson that you do learn. Best of luck to Lou and her sister Lee as they both begin a new life journey. |
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***** Auction Results from 9/12-9/13 2009 **** |
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Rockmore works SOLD at Neal Auction on 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 Sold for $6169
Lot # 958 "French Quarter Scene" - ( 24x36 in) Oil/canvas Signed dated -80-81 / Bas Droite Estimate $1,500 - $2,500 Sold for $2350
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
Sold for $2938  | |
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