Who is John Cabore?

I moved to New York City in 1967 to throw myself into my show business career working as a Commercial Model, TV & film Actress, night club singer and college student. John Cabore was my next door neighbor in a hotel where I was living in at the time. When I looked through his portfolio I could see that I was in the company of a great artist. His paints had long dried up as he had not touched them in more than six years. He had become despondent over the death of his wife and he had chosen to disappear from life altogether.

I helped him create an atmosphere were he could start painting again. I purchased supplies and modeled for him. I also monitored his diet and life style choices – making certain he was strong enough to paint again. We became close friends; he was a father figure/ teacher to me. He was able to create a huge, new body of work during the next ten years.

During his final years, he was aware of his approaching death. John gave me the remainder of his work, documents, newspaper articles and portfolio. John Cabore left behind a huge body of work. There are 70 paintings, and drawings and many photographs. His work was well accepted during his career-he enjoyed great success. Having a large body of his work in one collection is a great asset for the legacy of this artist. I have no idea the value of this art.

Here is a quick overview about what I learned about John Cabore: Fashion Artist/ Illustrator/ Portrait Artist/ Educator Born 6 May 1914 Larksville, PA Died New York City 1980

During WW II 1941 -1945 John was in the military- Mac Dill Army Base in Florida He worked as a writer, artist for AP, UP, INS. He also worked in the Intelligence and would pose as an artist making portraits of many generals. He painted huge murals for the officers’ clubs.

John was a prominent fashion artist and commercial illustrator in NYC during the 40’s – 60’s. His client list include most of the city’s high-end department stores-Saks, Goodman’s, Bonwit Teller, etc. and a list of the elite art collectors. He also illustrated products for magazines and anatomy for textbooks.

He was one of the founders of the School of Visual Arts and taught there for years. The School was founded in 1947 with Silas Rhodes and Burne Hogarth (the Tarzan illustrator) -starting with 3 instructors and 35 students. The School of Visual Arts has turned into a multi-disciplinary institution with a faculty of 800 and a student body of 3,000. Many of John Cabore’s former students are teaching or Department Heads at the school and some are well known, working artists – for example Kenneth Francis Dewey.

 During his successful working years, John had many drinking buddies, including Jackson Pollack (the father of Abstract Expressionism), Howard Purcell and Andrew Palencar…Howard Purcell was a well known illustrator for the Comic book giant DC. He did the first “Green Lantern” cover in 1940 for them…also “Mr. District Attorney”; “House of Mystery”; “Gangbusters”; Unexpected”; “Sea Devils” In Howard Purcell’s own words ~John was, “one of the Best God Damn Artists he had ever run into”

Andy Palencar remembered the paintings from his days in N.Y.C. after WWII when he was attending Pratt .He had gone over to the Art Students League to study and John Cabore’s Portrait was on display as an example of Excellent Portrait Painting Andy describes John Cabore “One of the greatest Living Artists…”

 During the 50’s and 60’s John Cabore had become a household word in the art community. He and his wife, Kay Silver, a well known stage actress who performed with Sophie Tucker, lived on Fifth Avenue in NYC. They worked and socialized with the glamorous celebrities from the art and show business world of their era. During this time his works were selling at the high end.

However, his enormous success and money could not buy a cure for his beloved wife. When Kay Silver died of cancer, John Cabore disappeared for six or seven years, producing no work – even his students could not locate him.