NORMAN ROCKWELL - AUTOGRAPHED SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH 1963 CO-SIGNED BY: DAVID RUBINOFF - HFSID 172167

NORMAN ROCKWELL and DAVID RUBINOFF
Photograph of artist Rockwell and violinist Rubinoff, signed by both
Photograph signed: "from/Rubinoff/&" and "Norman/Rockwell/1963". B/w, 6¼x3¾. Inscribed in unknown hand: "To Al Chiavaria". Noted American artist and illustrator NORMAN ROCKWELL (1894-1978) is best known for his realistic and humorous scenes of small town life in America. He painted over 300 covers for the "Saturday Evening Post" (1916-1965) after beginning his career at age 18 as an illustrator for "Boy's Life". Rockwell also painted politically significant works, such as his cover illustration of Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Four Freedoms" (1943) and portraits of Presidential candidates. Violinist DAVID RUBINOFF (1897-1986), born in Grodno, Poland in the Russian Empire (now Hrodna, Belarus) began playing the violin at age five and performed with the Russian Army band before entering the Royal Conservatory of Music in Warsaw. For his graduation (at age 11), Rubinoff wrote "The Dance of the Russian Peasant", which he performed before an audience that included Victor Herbert. The composer, cellist and conductor brought Rubinoff and his family to the U.S., where Rubinoff performed at hotels and theatres before breaking into radio. Rubinoff, who headed his own orchestra and played with Eddie Cantor in theatres and on radio, was a featured performer (1930-1937) on the popular radio program, Chase & Sanborn Hour (hosted by Cantor), for which he wrote the overture, "Slavonic Fantasy". Rubinoff, who also was heard on radio shows for Rexall, Pebeco and Chevrolet, was an excellent showman, and he appeared as several films as well as on the stage. His credits include Morning, Noon and Night and Parade of the Wooden Soldiers (both 1933 as a performer and conductor), Thanks a Million (1935), You Can't Have Everything (1937) and Melody Masters: Rubinoff and his Violin (1939), and Rubinoff was also a guest on TV's The Colgate Comedy Hour (1953). Dedicated to promoting a love for music in young people, Rubinoff performed at hundreds of school assemblies, and he also played in hospitals and prisons, entertained troops during WWII, Korea and Vietnam and gave concerts for Presidents Hoover, Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson. Rubinoff, who usually billed himself as "Rubinoff and his Violin", played a Stradivarius made in 1731 by Antonio Stradivari in Cremona, Italy. Emblazoned with the crest of the Romanoff family, the instrument was believed to have been taken out of Russia during the Revolution of 1917. Slightly creased at upper left corner, worn at corners. Minor surface crease at lower right background. Fine condition.