 |
| #657 - Children of the Night 70 |
Noel Rockmore was a driven artist and when he had a vision of a work it had to come out and he stayed with it. In this one he has 6 children in the street at night with an interesting moon that almost looks like jellyfish due to the technique Rockmore used. This work is almost a caricature done in the style that his father and top illustrator of his time, Floyd Davis did when he was illustrating in the 40s.
The little girl in the center with the yellow sleeves appears to be the main character the other children don't quite look like children at all especially the two on the right. The image on the far right is how Rockmore often liked to depict himself on the edge of the action as the observer but not participant. Rockmore also uses the technique of raising the center part of the painting with newspaper that he paints on top of to give the work a 3D effect that he was always trying to achieve in his art.
 |
|
#942 Susanna and One Elder of Jackson Square 82 |
Susanna and the elders was a theme that Rockmore used since the early 1970s. It stems from the bible and has been painted by artists since the 1400s. As the story goes, a fair Hebrew wife named Susanna was falsely accused by lecherous voyeurs. The false accusers are put to death and virtue triumphs.
 |
|
Susannah & the Elders Etching |
In this particular work, Rockmore's girlfriend Rita is the model for the girl and his friend Alpine John is the model for the elder. A beautiful depiction of Jackson Square is in the background and he adds a mask in pen to Susanna to perhaps go with the discarded Mardi Gras Title. What makes this work VERY RARE is that Rockmore actually has 7 titles on the work. Every once and a while there are two but never 7 titles. Including:
New Orleans Ballad
"Jackson Square Interlude" 'New Orleans"
Mardi Gras Interlude"
Reverie of J.S. (Jackson Square)
Song of J.S. (Jackson Square)
 |
| #348 Table series Collage 67 |
There is something in these works where he not only captures his own feelings but the feeling of the late 60s. Rockmore also seems to have liked drawingmen in conversation around a table which is known as his Table series.
The flowers in the middle have always symbolized Rockmore's gift as an artist to the world. The planets, like the black one here, were elements of many Rockmore works from this time period. They appear in his works in many different shapes and forms. The Technique that he uses in this work is the addition of the eagle and flag in the middle of the vase which appears it could be some type of cactus arrangement.
 |
|
#682 O.M.(Old Man) & Riva 71 |
In the early 70s, Rockmore took a street person under his wing that happened to be a former business person who was done on his luck and up in age.
 |
|
Riva on Right in Paris |
His name was Robert Paige but Rockmore just called him O.M. (for Old Man) and helped provide a place for him to live and work for him to do. Meanwhile Rockmore had fallen hard for his new model Riva but there were several problems including the fact that she would not pose nude for Rockmore. Rockmore so enjoyed her beauty and her company that he decided to paint her with clothes on in a series that would involve an Old Man and a beautiful woman.
 |
|
#632 Terry at Clinic |
In 1970, Rockmore spent more and more time at the Free HEAD Clinic run by his friend, Mike Stark, the leader of the young people and the guru of the Hippies in the French Quarter. In reality, Mike Stark was a trained minister who really was trying to help as many people as he could. He provided a place where young people could call their parents; get medical help, counseling, work and whatever they might need to help them along.
Rockmore was there with him and would document the things and the people that he saw in the clinic in 1970. In this work, he documents Terry in his overalls with his unusual eye. He also uses the crosshatch pen technique and the fingerprint smudge technique to define his face.
 |
|
#269 Street in Kasbah |
Rockmore did leave Morocco with this sketchbook whuch was a permanent historical account of that time in Morocco captured by the master. 
He was fascinated by the architecture, the culture, the landscape, the animals and the people and he captured them all.
Rockmore loved the colors, cityscapes, architecture, the people and geography as you can see in this pen on paper. From Wikipedia, we learn that the word Kasbah may also be used to describe the old part of a city, in which case it has the same meaning as a medina quarter.
