55 Facts About Noel Rockmore

Noel Rockmore was born Noel Montgomery Davis to his mother, Gladys Rockmore Davis, and his father, Floyd Davis, in New York City.

Noel Rockmore claimed to have produced more than 15,000 works of art in his lifetime.

Noel Rockmore is known for his portraits, his early rise to fame, his Preservation Hall portraits, and for changing his name at the height of the popularity he had developed in New York City.

Noel Rockmore experimented with different artistic theories, techniques, and ideas in the New York art world of the 1950s.

Noel Rockmore spent the next 20 years commuting between New Orleans and New York City while various dealers tried unsuccessfully to manage him and his often volatile career.

In 1935, while both he and his sister were struggling with polio, Noel Rockmore turned to painting as an artistic outlet.

Noel Rockmore attended Juilliard, where he learned to play violin.

Noel Rockmore attended the Art Student League of New York with Julian E Levi.

In 1948, when Noel Rockmore was 19, Joseph Hirshhorn became his first major patron.

Noel Rockmore was encouraged by Henry Francis Taylor, director at the Metropolitan Museum and became acquaintanced with Raphael Soyer, John Koch, and Yasuo Kuniyoshi.

Noel Rockmore painted animals from The Museum of Natural History and in 1950 he painted scenes from the Ringling Brothers Circus.

On June 20,1951, Noel Rockmore Davis married Elizabeth Hunter in New York City.

Noel Rockmore began showing his works at the Harry Salpeter Gallery.

Noel Rockmore did two Life Magazine commissions and was invited to join the National Academy of Design.

Noel Rockmore was in group exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum, Whitney Museum, Museum of Modern Art, and The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

Noel Rockmore won the Hallgarten Prize, the Tiffany Fellowship, and The Wallace Truman Prize.

Noel Rockmore had a one-man show at the Salpeter Gallery in New York and the Butler Institute of American Art in Ohio.

Noel Rockmore was banned from the Hirshhorn Museum when he was caught there changing his name from Davis to Rockmore on one of his works.

Noel Rockmore was accused of defacing a major work at a museum in New York.

Noel Rockmore met Bill Russell, composer, jazz historian, and New Orleans merchant and they began a lifelong friendship that would be punctuated by Rockmore's depiction of Bill in numerous paintings and watercolors throughout his life.

Paul Ninas, Noel Rockmore's landlord writes a letter to Salpeter in New York reporting that Noel Rockmore is cavorting with young female companions, wearing western boots and tight jeans, using Castor oil in his hair and drinking for days on end.

Noel Rockmore returned to New York and his arrangement with Harry Salpeter was slowly dissolved.

Noel Rockmore responded with 300 oil portraits and over 500 small acrylics in less than two years.

Noel Rockmore worked with a framer, Bruce Brice, whom he mentored and encouraged on his career path, and who eventually became a respected American folk artist.

In 1963, Noel Rockmore created a series of works based on his travels in Mexico, and in 1965, he did the same concerning his travels to Morocco.

Noel Rockmore retreated to San Francisco to be with his sister Deborah, painting San Francisco and Haight-Ashbury as well as Eldridge Cleaver, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Allen Ginsberg.

Noel Rockmore painted a portrait of the writer Henry Miller for a Lou-Jon press book which was rejected when the Borenstein negotiation with Lou-Jon goes bad.

In early 1969 Noel Rockmore parted ways with Potamkin and Franchi and returned to San Francisco to visit his sister and paint a new series.

Noel Rockmore was included by Wein on the inaugural Jazz Fest committee and commissioned to do a watercolor series of the event.

At that time, Noel Rockmore began a relationship with folk artist Sister Gertrude Morgan and painted and worked with her throughout 1970.

Noel Rockmore embraced and painted many famous characters from the French quarter, including Mike Stark and his Free Head Clinic, Ruthie the Duck Girl, the jazz musicians Bill Russell and Gypsy Lou, and his new girlfriend Riva Segall.

Noel Rockmore was commissioned by Time to do a portrait of Arial Sharon.

In 1971, Noel Rockmore did a Civil War series and a Victorian Scrapbook series where he transported himself back in time in order to paint periods he had researched.

In 1972, Wein commissioned Noel Rockmore to go to Paris and Venice with girlfriend Riva in order to create a series of works for Wein's personal collection.

In 1974, Noel Rockmore moved back to New York and started a series of large murals throughout the city.

In 1976 Noel Rockmore had his last New York City show at the Forum Gallery.

Noel Rockmore took up with a young Andrea Lannin and reunited with two of his children, one of his daughters and his son.

In 1977 Noel Rockmore sold his West 67th apartment in New York and left the city for the last time.

In 1977, Noel Rockmore returned to New Orleans with girlfriend Andrea Lannin, and two of his children, now young adults, came to with him as well.

Noel Rockmore began a series of prints, etchings, and posters, including the famous Muhammad Ali and Leon Spinks Fight Print of 1978 from the Superdome.

Noel Rockmore was now represented by the Sandra Zahn Oreck Gallery and had three very successful shows during the next three years that included his "Mardi Gras Backstage series" from the Blaine Kern warehouses.

Sandra Zahn Oreck closed the gallery in 1983 and Noel Rockmore chose to seek representation with Bryant Galleries .

In 1984, Noel Rockmore first came into the possession of a puppy that he named Remby, who would be with him until right before his death in 1995.

Noel Rockmore began work on fantastic vodou pieces, sculptures, and three-dimensional collages.

In late 1984 Noel Rockmore took up with a local entrepreneur, William May, originally from LaGrange, GA who would attempt to manage Noel Rockmore back to New York for a big show.

Noel Rockmore's drinking escalated and his relationship with women started to deteriorate.

Noel Rockmore attended Alcoholics Anonymous and worked hard to reconcile his relationship with Mary May, but by the end of 1987 she had gone and Rockmore was alone and without a gallery.

In 1988, Noel Rockmore signed a deal with Bryant Gallery in order to get a regular paycheck; while with Bryant, he was befriended by Dr Hava, a psychiatrist and drinking buddy from Johnny White's, his favorite watering hole in the French Quarter.

Noel Rockmore began to exercise, working out at the YMCA; his new-found motivation allowed him to move forward and produce an entirely new "Ancient Egyptian" series in 1990.

In 1991 his longtime patron Shirley Marvin had the professional documentary Noel Rockmore produced in New Orleans, featuring Noel Rockmore and narrated by his daughter.

Noel Rockmore completed the "immigration series" and had his final exhibition at Bryant Galleries at the age of 64.

Noel Rockmore refused to go to the hospital despite attempts by his friends to intervene.

Noel Rockmore chose instead to go to the home of his friend Dr Hava, whom he depicted as Dr Jack Kevorkian in one of his final works.

On Friday February 17,1995, the day Noel Rockmore was to lose his life, an open house was scheduled at Dr Hava's but did not occur.

Noel Rockmore was put in a cab and the cabbie was told by the doctor that Noel Rockmore was a street person to be dropped off at St Jude Medical Center in Kenner, LA.