When I was growing up, there was a weekly magazine called The Saturday Evening Post. The Post, which is still puiblished as a bi-monthly, has a long history. It actually published it's first edition in 1728, and was once owned by Benjamin Franklin.
Norman Rockwell was famous in part for the cover art he created for the Post.
Rockwell's work is photo-realistic. Brilliantly so. His art reflected America, in some cases at least, perhaps more as we wished it to be than it actually was. Rockwell's paintings were about values like goodness, and decency, and kindness, and courage, and virtue.
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| Thanksgiving - Rockwell style |
Norman Rockwell's work also often reflected more than a little whimsy and fun, as is amply shown in his 'Country Doctor' below.
I have a lot of books. The biggest of all is a cumbersome coffee table volume that includes Rockwell's best known works. It's really fun to flip through its pages occasionally and be reminded of Rockwell's genius.
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| Norman Rockwell - Self-Portrait |
So, again, the big question about Rockwell: was he merely a talented illustrator or was he an artist? I don't think there's any question. Illustration is about technical virtuosity. Rockwell was a consummate illustrator of humanity. His paintings grew out of his imagination. He imagined first, then painted what he imagined, and made it real. That made him a uniquely gifted artist and visual communicator, who deserves a place historically alongside the greatest masters.
Here is a link to the Norman Rockwell Museum located in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, the artist's home town... http://www.nrm.org/
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