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eBay Auction from the Shirley Marvin Collection
this Tuesday January 17th at 9PM Eastern Time!
Click on large left images to read more about the Rockmore work!
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#565 Breakfast at the Vaucresson |
The Vaucresson is one of his most documented places and he spends a great amount of time on the characters at the tables with the pillar and red brick wall as a background. The Vaucresson is easy to identify in Rockmore works because of the red & white checkerboard table cloths and the distinct brickwork. The family ran a sausage company and Sonny's son, Vance, has upheld the family business with honor. The man on the right seems to be having a few words with his child as others dine and a man reads his paper. It is a HISTORIC documentation of the French Quarter and it is all done in PURE watercolor.
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#454 Robin as a Child with Flowers |
 Rockmore was briefly married in 1968 to a beautiful young woman named Robin whom he painted quite often during the relationship. We know that she was quite young at the time when Rockmore was 40; many have suggested she was 18-22. This work is RARE because there are not that many known works of Robin and they were together for just a very brief period. The other interesting thing about this work is the exquisite details on the flowers and Robin all done in watercolor and pen by the master artist using several techniques. He loved Robin and he loved flowers and he considered them his gift to the world and symbol of his art. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds was a major hit the year before and through 1968 and Rockmore seems to have paid Homage in this title.
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#342 Study of Prokofiev |
 This is from the first week of August in 1967 that Rockmore spent in Laguna Beach. Rockmore was a violin prodigy in his early years and considered himself a soul mate of many of the classic composers. He also must have attended a Hollywood Bowl concert during his stay in Laguna Beach.
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (23 April 1891 - 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century. His best-known works include the March from Love for Three Oranges, the suite Lieutenant Kijé, the ballet Romeo and Juliet - from which "Dance of the Knights" is taken - and Peter and the Wolf. He also composed amongst many other works five piano concertos, nine completed piano sonatas and seven symphonies. A graduate of the St Petersburg Conservatory, Prokofiev initially made his name as an iconoclastic composer-pianist, achieving notoriety with a series of ferociously dissonant and virtuosic works for his instrument and his first two piano concertos.
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#810 Figure in my Bedroom - Skyscraper |
The Skyscraper at 638 Royal St. is where Noel Rockmore lived at one point during his stay in the New Orleans French Quarter. It was nicknamed "The Skyscraper" because at 4 stories tall, it was indeed one of the tallest buildings in the French Quarter. Although Rockmore liked to document everything that he encountered, it was a RARE sketch that included details of his personal living accommodations. Not only does this RARE find include that, it is also in the Title with the reference to 638 Royal. At this time, we do not know who the young woman was other than he sketched her and she could have been a girlfriend or just a friend. Chances are that she was someone who was in close proximity to where Rockmore lived or where he liked to hang out (Johnny Whites, Alpine, Pres Hall). If you were in Rockmore's sphere and he thought you had an interesting look, you might got sketched. One of the exciting things about getting a sketch like this is that there just might be another interesting chapter to the story that unfolds as Rockmore's story becomes more public. There has been a great amount of interest in "The Skyscraper" since it was mentioned and photographed in the recent Rockmore AP article.
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#278 Entrance to the Medina |
Noel Rockmore spent time in Morocco in 1966 on a trip that did produce this sketchbook owned by Shirley Marvin and a few other works (3) that have been documented to date. What Rockmore did leave with this sketchbook was a permanent historical account of that time in Morocco captured by the master of watercolor.
Rockmore loved the colors, cityscapes, architecture, the people and geography as you can see in this watercolor and collage. From Wikipedia, we learn that a medina quarter is a distinct city section found in many North African cities. The medina is typically walled, contains many narrow and maze-like streets. The word "medina" (or Médina) itself simply means "city" or "town" in modern day Arabic. Medina quarters often contain historical fountains, palaces, and mosques. Because of the very narrow streets, medinas are free from car traffic, and in some cases even motorcycle and bicycle traffic. The streets can be less than a meter wide. Rockmore loved the arches and the people walking through them as you can see in this work. It is most interesting also to see all of the people's outfits as well as the GREAT DETAIL on the architecture.
 | | #233-The Annex #1 New Orleans Bar 66 |
Noel Rockmore was a creature of habit and location when it came to his favorite bars and neighborhoods. Whether it was New York or New Orleans or even a short stay in Morocco, Rockmore had 3 or 4 favorite places in a 3 block radius where everyone knew him as a regular patron and character. In New York, McGlades Bar and the Bar at the Des Artiste are the most documented. In New Orleans it is Johnny White's, the Alpine, The Bourbon House and The Annex.This particular Bar "The Annex" was said to be one of the haunts that Rockmore frequented most often in 1966. He gives you a great perspective of his view of the bar and all of the activity that is happening.
Rockmore likes to put the viewer in the middle of the action and let them figure it out and he loved adding bits of tension like the man with his hand on the woman's backside. The rest of the 14 figures are engaged with each other in a typical barroom scene. The little boy looking up at the bottom right of this picture is how Rockmore liked to depict himself in many of his works. It is done freehand in pen by the master artist without a single errant stroke and is certainly a very important part of Rockmore history.
 | | # 1998 Catalog Rockmore Fantasies-Realities |
In 1998, three years after Rockmore's death, a Retrospective Exhibition was organized by the New Orleans Museum of Art curated by Gail Feigenbaum with help from Shirley Marvin and many others who felt it was the BEST way to honor the artist. The show included a panel discussion with Rockmore's family, girlfriend Rita Posselt and New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Founder and Rockmore collector, George Wein. The greatest thing to come out of the exhibition was this beautiful 40 page Full Color catalog that had a limited run of 2000 editions.
The catalog was designed by Hennemen Design with photos by NOMA staff photographer at the time, Judy Cooper. Everyone held on to their catalog from this event and thus they became quite RARE and when they do appear for sale they are quite often in USED or FAIR condition. Shirley Marvin picked up several extra copies at the time of the exhibition with the idea that they could be used to entice other Museums into having their own Noel Rockmore retrospective down the line. This is one of those RARE copies and still has the original NOMAMuseum Shop price sticker on the back cover.
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