Gallery Exhibitions

It is with great gravitas that The Riverfront Artists honor and acknowledge our dearly departed and sincerely warmhearted friend, Norman. The charm and creativity of his voice, heard by ear keen and by eye seen, has been notably absent from our figure drawing sessions. However, as is often the case for close companionship, Norman’s presence remains vivid in our memories and our traditions. We owe many thanks to our friend for his investments; of time, in managing and directing the club’s models, and of purse, in sponsoring the activities of the club and its attending artists during the leaner times. Because of his dedication and support, our community continues to perform strong, producing as many impressive poses as it does drawings and paintings.

Our friend considered himself an illustrator, working in the genre veins of the pulp and the pinup. Raised during the Golden Ages of Comic Books and Pinups in the 30’s and 40’s, and along the sunny shores of Buenos Aires, a young Norman had his creative flame ignited by what he saw in the world and pop-culture. That flame continued to burn bright for nearly a full–and fulfilling–century, guiding his creative journey up until its epilogue in the winter of 2023.

Norman began the writing and drawing of his sci-fi comic story The Adventures of the Skull in the 50’s at the age of fifteen, pulling inspiration from Rick Yager’s Buck Rogers and designing his own characters, spaceships and planets. Twenty years later, in his thirties and in Albany, he redrew the panels, continuing to add to the ever-unfolding adventure up until the very year of his passing. As you may see, the maintenance of a creative throughline to the fantasy and imaginings of his youth plays a significant part in the delight and insight of Norman’s work.

A figurative drawing course at UAlbany sparked Norman’s desire to depict the nude, and while our friend had always kept an interest and respect for the pinup, he was galvanized to represent not only the fantasy ideal, but also the interpersonal and real. Retiring from his state position in the 90’s, Norman set aside his pursuit of sequential art and joined The Riverfront Artist Club and Union Sketch Club, making figurative art his new mission in life. Having found the sessions to be something spiritual and therapeutic, Norman began viewing these modern ‘practice facilities’ of figurative art to be akin to the temples of Greek Gods and other organized places of worship, which often idolize the youthful and symmetrical human form. With this concept in mind, our friend sought and supported many of the Capital Region’s figurative models, many of whom were several decades his junior and kept him feeling witty and spry. He would often share stories of his past and listen to them in return, all the while painting away and aiming to capture his muses as he saw them; beautiful and ephemeral. 

Norman was not only a prolific artist, he was also a prolific collector and stepping into his home was like entering into a temple of its own unique design and vision. There were statues in every alcove, library shelves stuffed with art books and dime novels, prints decorating the walls, racks of VHS tapes, and most notably, stacks of his acrylic paintings, which ran like a long line of oversized dominos throughout the first floor. Our friend never had any offspring, but he viewed his paintings like his children; they were all different to him and he wouldn’t divulge a favorite, always looking forward with anticipation and hope for the next concept to come along.

Written by D. M. LEBLANC

Inspired by Shared Stories and Norman’s Writings