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N o N o early years
Norman Rockwell was born in New York City in 1894. He always wanted to be an artist. At age 14, Rockwell enrolled in art classes at The New York School of Art (formerly The Chase School of Art). Two years later, in 1910, he left high school to study art at The National Academy of Design. He soon transferred to The Art Students League, Portrait of Rockwell where he studied with Thomas Fogarty and George Bridgman. Fogarty’s as a young artist instruction in illustration prepared Rockwell for his first commercial Photo by McManus Studios, commissions. From Bridgman, Rockwell learned the technical skills on New York City which he relied throughout his long career.
Rockwell found success early. He painted his first commission of four Christmas cards before his sixteenth birthday. While still in his teens, he was hired as art director of Boys’ Life, the official publication of the Boy Scouts of America, and began a successful freelance career illustrating a variety of young people’s publications.
2 “Commonplaces never become tiresome. It is we who become tired when we cease to be curious and appreciative.” —Norman Rockwell
3 saturday evening post
At age 21, Rockwell’s family moved to New Rochelle, New York, a community whose residents included such famous illustrators as J.C. and Frank Leyendecker and Howard Chandler Christy. There, Rockwell set up a studio with the cartoonist Clyde Forsythe and produced work for such magazines as Life, Literary Digest, and Country Gentleman.
In 1916, the 22-year-old Rockwell painted his first cover for The Saturday Evening Post, the magazine considered by Rockwell to be the “greatest show window in America.” Over the next 47 years, another 321 Rockwell covers would appear on the cover of the Post. Also in 1916, Rockwell married Irene O’Connor; they divorced in 1930.
The 1930s and 1940s are generally considered to be the most fruitful decades of Rockwell’s career. In 1930 he married Mary Barstow, a schoolteacher, and the couple had three sons, Jarvis, Thomas, and Peter. The family moved to Arlington, Vermont, in 1939, and Rockwell’s work began to reflect small-town American life.
4 saturday evening post Four freedom Paintings
In 1943, inspired by President Franklin Roosevelt’s address to Congress, Rockwell painted the Four Freedoms paintings. They were reproduced in four consecutive issues of The Saturday Evening Post with essays by contemporary writers. Rockwell’s interpretations of Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Speech Freedom to Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear proved to be enormously popular. The works toured the United States in an Freedom of Worship exhibition that was jointly sponsored by the Post and the U.S. Treasury Department and, through the sale of war bonds, raised more than $130 million for the war effort.
Although the Four Freedoms series was a great success, 1943 also brought Rockwell an enormous loss. A fire destroyed his Arlington studio as well as numerous paintings and his Freedom from Want collection of historical costumes and props.
Freedom from Fear
5 autobiography
In 1953, the Rockwell family moved from Arlington, Vermont, to Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Six years later, Mary Barstow Rockwell died unexpectedly. In collaboration with his son Thomas, Rockwell published his autobiography, My Adventures as an Illustrator, in 1960. The Saturday Evening Post carried excerpts from the best-selling book in eight consecutive issues, with Rockwell’s Triple Self- Portrait on the cover of the first.
In 1961, Rockwell married Molly Punderson, a retired teacher. Two years later, he ended his 47-year association with The Saturday Evening Post and began to work for Look magazine. During his 10-year association with Look, Rockwell painted pictures illustrating some of his deepest concerns and interests, including civil rights, America’s war on poverty, and the exploration of space.
Norman Rockwell Museum Photo by Art Evans
In 1973, Rockwell established a trust to preserve his artistic legacy by placing his works in the custodianship of the Old Corner House Stockbridge Historical Society, later to become the Norman Rockwell Museum at Stockbridge. The trust now forms the core of the Museum’s permanent collections. In 1976, in failing health, Rockwell became concerned about the future of his studio. He arranged to have his studio and its contents added to the trust. In 1977, Rockwell received the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, for his “vivid and affectionate portraits of our country.” He died at his home in Stockbridge on November 8, 1978, at the age of 84.
The Norman Rockwell Museum houses the world’s largest and most significant collection of original Rockwell art. Highlights include enduring favorites from Rockwell’s Saturday Evening Post covers, the powerful Four Freedoms, and the nostalgic Stockbridge Main Street at Christmas. The Norman Rockwell Archive contains more than 100,000 photographs, letters, and other rare mementos. A visit to the Museum is an uplifting experience.
8 cOLLECTION
Founded in 1969 with the help of Norman and Molly Rockwell, the Norman Rockwell Museum is dedicated to the enjoyment and study of Rockwell’s work and his contributions to society, popular culture, and social commentary. The Museum, which is accredited by the American Association of Museums, is the most popular year-round cultural attraction in the Berkshires.
The Museum houses the world’s largest and most significant collection of Rockwell’s work, including 574 original paintings and drawings. Rockwell’s Stockbridge studio, moved to the Museum site, is open to the public from May through October, and features original art materials, his library, furnishings, and personal items. The Museum also houses the Norman Rockwell Archives, a collection of more than 100,000 items, including working photographs, letters, personal calendars, fan mail, and business documents.
Having spent its first 24 years at the Old Corner House on Stockbridge’s Main Street, the Museum moved to its present location, a 36-acre site overlooking the Housatonic River Valley, in 1993. Internationally renowned architect Robert A. M. Stern designed the Museum gallery building. Since moving to its new location, the Museum has greatly expanded its educational programming, exhibition schedule, and special events.
One of the great charms of the Museum is its location. Rockwell lived in Stockbridge for the last 25 years of his life. Many of his world- renowned images were drawn from the surrounding community and its residents.
9 appreciation
The Norman Rockwell Museum is a testament to the life, art, and enduring spirit of Norman Rockwell, as well as a celebration of his chosen field of illustration. Preeminent in its focus on this important art form, the Museum offers a diverse exhibition program that documents and explores the breadth of the field.
The Museum’s exhibitions strive to inspire an appreciation and understanding of Rockwell’s art within the context of the illustration world. Our presentations also explore the impact and significance of Rockwell’s work and examine the history and evolution of the artist’s beloved profession. Featuring both historical and contemporary exhibitions, the Museum is distinguished as an important center for study and scholarship within - and beyond - the field of illustration.
Without thinking too much about it in specific terms, I was showing the America I knew and observed to others who might not have noticed.” — Norman Rockwell
10 ROCKWELL AND ILLUSTRATION
Beyond the legendary status that he had already achieved nearly four decades before his death in 1978, Norman Rockwell was a remarkable painter, a gifted storyteller, and a masterful technician who conveyed a distinct, personal message. Rockwell created images that described universal human experiences within a particularly American context. His ability to reveal the deeper meaning in commonplace situations captivates audiences to this day.
Rockwell’s impact on popular culture and his influence on generations of American illustrators was enormous. Working in the tradition of such great illustrator storytellers as Howard Pyle and N.C. Wyeth, Norman Rockwell with Rockwell set the standard for commercial artists who used narrative some of his artwork realism to illustrate books, magazines, and advertisements from the 1920s to the 1950s. A seminal figure in the evolution of American illustration, his work spawned a shift by the next generation of illustrators and designers, who embraced a modernist aesthetic.
The illustration marketplace has undergone a major change since Rockwell’s time. While no longer the primary visual mechanism of mass media, illustration still serves to stimulate the intellect and emotions and speak to the joys and challenges of our world. Credit this to the inspirational work of illustrators following in Rockwell’s footsteps and those taking the art form in bold new directions. At this unique turning point in the continuum of illustration, Rockwell’s artistic accomplishments stand out as an important link from the outstanding visual communicators of the past to those of today.
11 Ulrika Towgood