Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978)
American painter and illustrator
Born
Norman Percevel Rockwell in New York City on February 3, 1894, Norman
Rockwell knew at the age of 14 that he wanted to be an artist, and began
taking classes at The New School of Art. By the age of 16, Rockwell was
so intent on pursuing his passion that he dropped out of high school
and enrolled at the National Academy of Design. He later transferred to
the Art Students League of New York. Upon graduating, Rockwell found
immediate work as an illustrator for Boys' Life magazine.
Talented at a
young age, he received his first commission at age 17. In 1916, he
created the first of 321 covers for The Saturday Evening Post.
Rockwell's Americana images were loved by the public, but not embraced
by critics. He created World War II posters and received the
Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977. He died on November 8, 1978.
By 1916, a 22-year-old Rockwell, newly married to his first wife, Irene O'Connor, had painted his first cover for The Saturday Evening Post—the beginning of a 47-year relationship with the iconic American magazine. In all, Rockwell painted 321 covers for the Post.
Some of his most iconic covers included the 1927 celebration of
Charles Lindbergh's crossing of the Atlantic. He also worked for other
magazines, including Look, which in 1969 featured a Rockwell
cover depicting the imprint of Neil Armstrong's left foot on the surface
of the moon after the successful moon landing. In 1920, the Boy Scouts
of America featured a Rockwell painting in its calendar. Rockwell
continued to paint for the Boy Scouts for the rest of his life.
Norman Rockwell's Couple Uncrating Turkey (1921)
Copyright © 1921 The Literay Digest and Funk & Wagnalls
Copyright © 1921 The Literay Digest and Funk & Wagnalls
Freedom from want by Norman Rockwell From March 3, 1942
For more information visit, Norman Rockwell Museum
4 comments:
I did my art history in an Australian University so I didn't know about Norman Rockwell until years later. The very first image was The Runaway where a big burly policeman was helping a young lad go back home in 1938. Wonderful!
The great joy of Rockwell painting hundreds of covers for the Post was that his art was not restricted to very wealthy families. If an ordinary working family wanted to cut the cover off the magazine and frame it up, they could have owned an "original" Rockwell cheaply.
Hi Hels,
You are so right about Norman Rockwell's work not being restricted to very wealthy families. Such a good point. Oh, I'm sure many American families owned several "original" Rockwell's. Hopefully, they kept them and are now happily retired ;)
Wow, these magazine covers are true works of art. Norman Rockwell must have been a busy man as he designed and painted loads of magazine covers.
Great blog Kimberly.
Hi Kevin,
Yes, gorgeous magazine covers. Norman Rockwelli is a true American icon. Thank you for stopping by!
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