Robert F. Rockwell, Jr. Biography

Robert F. Rockwell, Jr. Biography, 1911-2009

Corning businessman and collector Robert F. (Bob) Rockwell, Jr. was born on November 8, 1911 in Bradford, Pennsylvania to Aileen and Robert Fay Rockwell. But for many years, Bob's birthplace was the only eastern element in his life. When he was an infant, his family returned to their cattle ranch near Gunnison, Colorado, and Bob grew up in and around the west-central part of the state.

It was here, during his childhood that he developed his love of collecting. He began with animal skeletons and butterflies. At the same time, he developed his love of Western art and the lore of the old West also. Bob claims he was aware of Western art almost from the time his eyes were open, since several Charles M. Russell prints hung on the walls of his family's home. The ranch also afforded Bob the opportunity to ride and talk with cowboys, many of whom had been a part of the old West.

When Bob was old enough to attend school, his family moved about 90 miles north, to Paonia, Colorado. There was only a one room schoolhouse, and Bob's mom didn't think that was enough. Mrs. Rockwell also may have wanted the support of a larger community while Bob's father served as a Colorado State Senator and Lieutenant Governor. In the early 1930s, Bob attended Whittier College and then went on to graduate from Stanford University.

After graduation, Bob moved east to help his grandfather Lemuel Wilson Rockwell run the Rockwell Company's department stores. In addition to the Corning store, the Rockwells owned establishments in Hornell, Wellsville and Perry. During this period, Bob returned to Colorado every year to visit. He thought his stay in Corning would be only temporary.

But he changed his plans after meeting Hertha Godley. The comely Painted Post woman was employed in the accounting department of the Corning Rockwell Department Store. "She was making more money than I was at the time," Bob often joked about their meeting. "I realized pretty quick that I ought to marry her." And so he did, on December 29, 1941.

In 1942, Bob enlisted in the Seabees and served three and one-half years in North Africa. After the war, Bob returned to Corning to build his business and start a family. He sold all of the Rockwell Company stores except the one in Corning. Within a few years, he and Hertha had two children: a daughter, Sandra, and a son, Robert F. (Bobby) Rockwell III.

Corning had become the young Rockwell family's home, although they continued to make regular summer visits west to the family's Colorado ranch. Bob worked hard to make the business a success, and he earned the lifelong respect and devotion of his employees. At the same time, he became involved in civic activities like the Corning Rotary Club. He was president of the club in 1949. It was there that he formed some important and lasting friendships. One was with Frederick Carder, the club's founder and head of Steuben Glass.

By the early 1960s, Bob was managing not only the department stores but also had taken over operations at the family ranch and a lumberyard in Pennsylvania that had belonged to an uncle. With his businesses running smoothly, Bob's early passion for collecting was rekindled. His friend Fred Carder began helping him to amass a large and fine collection of colored Steuben glass.

Bob also pursued his longstanding interest in Western art. When he heard that an Elmira dealer was offering a Remington for sale, he jumped at the opportunity. "He was asking only $500, and I thought it was a steal," Bob loved to tell, with a twinkle in his eye. "I knew he wasn't asking enough, but he was a professional dealer so I didn't have any qualms about it." Shortly after making the purchase, he consulted Western art authority Harold McCracken. Only then did Bob learn that the painting was a fake. Undaunted, he decided to learn all he could about Western art. He jumped at McCracken's offer to help him acquire some genuine Western art. McCracken took Bob to New York City soon afterward, where he bought four real Remingtons.

Inspired by the romance of the West and the cowboys he had known and admired, Bob continued to expand his collections. As he purchased new works, he sought to capture the era of westward expansion and the sense of adventure and exploration that characterized it. And he did so with deliberation and thoroughness. In a little more than a decade, he had built a major collection that included Remington and Russell cowboys, Bierstadt landscapes, Rungius big game animals, and Native Americans by Farny, Sharp and Hennings. The Western art he collected was, in his view, "the history of the West, painted on canvas and cast in bronze."

In the process, Bob himself became a part of the story of Western art. He visited often with other collectors and Western art enthusiasts, with whom he developed lasting friendships. Art dealers Jack Bartfield and Rudy Wunderlich, experts Fred Renner and Harold McCracken, and collectors Clara Peck, Phil Anshutz and Kay Haley were all within Bob's close circle of friends. He also loved to meet the families and associates of the artists themselves. Charlie Russell's son, Edward Borein's daughter and Joseph Sharp's assistant were all friends of Bob's.

Bob was generous with the knowledge he built and the associations he made, and with his collection as well. He worked to establish the National Cowboy Artists Hall of Fame and served on its Board of Directors. When the Hall of Fame opened, half of the works on exhibit were on loan from the Rockwells. By 1970, works from the Rockwell collection had been displayed in shows at 35 museums, colleges and universities, including the Denver Art Museum. "A Mix Up," by Charles M. Russell, was on display at the U.S. State Department.

Meanwhile, in Corning, customers at the Rockwell Department Store enjoyed the Rockwell art collection, too. Bob had turned nearly every square foot of available space in the store into exhibit space for the collection he loved to share. Artist Tom Buechner described it as "brimming over with paintings, bronzes, guns, buffalo skulls, Indian blankets, old toys and a huge collection of Steuben glass. It was an extraordinary place to buy a sweater!" With a great sense of humor, Bob delighted in infusing domestic life with manifestations of the outlaw west. "We put Soapy Smith's roulette table in the children's department," he once recalled. "Mothers used it as a changing table. Imagine what Soapy would have thought!"

In the early 1970s, there was no space to display any more art in the department store. At the same time, Western art was becoming more popular and Bob's collections had increased dramatically in value. He had to find another way to ensure the security and care of the art. By this time, Bob had developed a reputation in the art world, and his collection was well known for its breadth and quality. The Cowboy Artists Hall of Fame was eager to acquire it. So were museums throughout the West, including the Denver Art Museum. Loaning works to such institutions like these was a temporary solution to his problem. But Bob was loyal to Corning. "Corning was where I made my money, and raised my family," he said. "I wanted my collections to remain here."

In 1974, officials from Corning Glass Works proposed a plan. If Bob would agree to donate his collections, the company would fund a new museum to house it. Bob responded eagerly to the offer, and in 1976 the Rockwell Museum was incorporated. Bob and Hertha Rockwell generously donated a large part of their collections of Western art, Carder Steuben glass to the new museum named for them, and they served on its Board of Directors. Here they also displayed parts of two other collections: antique toys and antique firearms.

Bob described the formation of the museum as one of his greatest adventures. He and Hertha were enthusiastic participants in museum activities, and continued to work to expand the collection. The friends they had made over the years also supported the museum with contributions and expertise. Bob's close friendship with the reclusive collector Clara Peck led to her major bequest to the museum. Likewise, his friendships with artists and art collectors meant that Western art lovers often visited Corning to see the museum. Among these were movie producer Hal Roach and film star George Montgomery. Bob especially enjoyed the opportunity to make new friends, which the museum afforded him. Bob liked to say, "I shook the hand that shook the hand of Carl Lindberg." His legendary list, "Interesting People I Have Known," includes such notables as Gene Autry, Ty Cobb, Muhammed Ali, Henry Kissinger, Richard Nixon, and Dinah Shore. Bob's closest associates observe that this ability to make friends wherever he went was what made him unique.

The authoritative Encyclopedia of the American West, by Howard Lamar, historian and former dean of Yale University, includes a listing on Bob and Hertha Rockwell and the Rockwell Museum. Bob Rockwell, quite literally, has become a part of the history of the West he loved and shared so generously through his art collection.