Fermin Rocker 1907-2004

Fermin Rocker was born in London's East End, son of Rudolph Rocker, editor of the Yiddish anarchist weekly 'Arbeiter Freind'. At the end of World War I the family moved to Germany, where Rocker studied at the Berlin School of Arts and Crafts, then was apprenticed as a lithographer for four years. From 1929 went with his father to America, returning to London in 1972. In America he worked nine years in a New York cartoon studio, then as a freelance including a lot of printmaking. His first solo exhibition was in New York in 1944. Kennedy Galleries handled much of his output, the Library of Congress collecting examples, the Philadelphia Print Club gave him a prize in 1944. During the 1950s and for the remainder of his career, Rocker turned his attention to oil painting, often choosing human activity such as a meeting, musical performance of even taking the train. In London he showed with Thelma Watt in 1984, then from 1986 with Stephen Bartley Gallery, which gave him a 90th Birthday Tribute in 1998. Retrospective exhibition at The Chambers Gallery in 2004, another in 2005-6. @copyright David Buckman 'Artists Working in Britain since 1945'