Noel Rockmore

Noel Rockmore
1951 self-portrait, age 21, NYC
Born	Noel Montgomery Davis (1928-12-15)December 15, 1928 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	February 19, 1995(1995-02-19) (aged 66) Kenner, Louisiana, U.S.
Nationality	American
Education	Art Students League of New York
Known for	Painter
Movement	Realism
Awards	Hallgarten Prize, Tiffany Fellowship, Ford Foundation Award
Patron(s)	Joseph Hirshhorn, Vincent Price, George Wein, Jimmy Buffett

Noel Rockmore (December 15, 1928 – February 19, 1995) was born Noel Montgomery Davis to his mother, Gladys Rockmore Davis, and his father, Floyd Davis, in New York City. Rockmore was an American painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. He claims to have produced more than 15,000 works of art in his lifetime. He 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 painted in a realistic and old masters style throughout his childhood and adolescence. He experimented with different artistic theories, techniques, and ideas in the New York art world of the 1950s.

As the abstract expressionist movement gained momentum, Rockmore left New York and went to New Orleans, where he changed his name from Noel Davis to Noel Rockmore, adopting the surname of his mother. He 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.

Noel Davis grew up in New York City, the son of a painter, Gladys Rockmore Davis, considered the ten-year-wonder of United States Art. His father, Floyd Davis was recognized in 1943 by Life Magazine as the No. 1 illustrator of that time. Noel's younger sister, Deborah Davis, was born in 1930.

Noel was fascinated by the violin and began lessons at the age of 5. He also learned piano and guitar. In 1935 both children contracted polio. and Noel turned to painting as an artistic outlet. By the age of 11 he had begun to produce serious artistic works.

Noel had difficulty accepting the discipline in traditional schools and at Juilliard, where he worked briefly trying to master the violin skills he had demonstrated as a child musical prodigy.

In the early 1940s, while his parents covered World War II as art correspondents for Life magazine, Noel and his sister attended the progressive Putney School in Vermont. Noel was known as a talented, but difficult student. He was graduated in 1947. He also attended the Art Student League of New York with Julian Levi.