Rockwell his best known for his over 300 cover illustrations for the Saturday Evening Post which brought his images and namesake into the homes and hearts of the American public week after week.
Though he has become an American icon, he came from very humble beginnings. He was born into a poor and rough New York neighborhood. He was the "skinny" kid who wasn't any good at sports like his older brother, but he used his art skills as a way to connect to the social hierarchy around him. Growing up he would illustrate the stories as his father read to the family each night and at the tender age of 16 went off to art school.
The art school he attended was a pet project of well-known illustrator and author Howard Pyle, well known for his many classic re-tellings in word and picture of the likes of Robin Hood and Ivanhoe. These were the same stories Norman grew up hearing and reading. Pyle was a great inspiration and influence on Rockwell, as were other notables of the Golden Age of Illustration; Frederic Remington, Charles Dan Gibson, and J.C. Leyendecker. He was also greatly influenced by the Dutch Masters, Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Bruegel.
Though he was never considered a "real artist" by the art community of his day, that didn't stop the public from adoring him anyway. Rockwell chose to depict life the way he would want to see it lived. Exploring not only the lighter side of life with humor but trying to portray the inherent good in people, even if it wasn't really there. Like the true illustrator he was, Rockwell's work always told a story and every time one looked at it, some new detail or chapter would emerge.
Rockwell left us a visual heritage, one that as an American, I am very proud to claim ownership of.
Though he has become an American icon, he came from very humble beginnings. He was born into a poor and rough New York neighborhood. He was the "skinny" kid who wasn't any good at sports like his older brother, but he used his art skills as a way to connect to the social hierarchy around him. Growing up he would illustrate the stories as his father read to the family each night and at the tender age of 16 went off to art school.
The art school he attended was a pet project of well-known illustrator and author Howard Pyle, well known for his many classic re-tellings in word and picture of the likes of Robin Hood and Ivanhoe. These were the same stories Norman grew up hearing and reading. Pyle was a great inspiration and influence on Rockwell, as were other notables of the Golden Age of Illustration; Frederic Remington, Charles Dan Gibson, and J.C. Leyendecker. He was also greatly influenced by the Dutch Masters, Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Bruegel.
Though he was never considered a "real artist" by the art community of his day, that didn't stop the public from adoring him anyway. Rockwell chose to depict life the way he would want to see it lived. Exploring not only the lighter side of life with humor but trying to portray the inherent good in people, even if it wasn't really there. Like the true illustrator he was, Rockwell's work always told a story and every time one looked at it, some new detail or chapter would emerge.
Rockwell left us a visual heritage, one that as an American, I am very proud to claim ownership of.
To learn more, try these links
Norman Rockwell Museum
Picturing America lesson plan on Freedom of Speech
Norman Rockwell Museum
Picturing America lesson plan on Freedom of Speech
4 comments:
Nifty. I have a Rockwell book, and I hope to use him for artist study at some point this year. Bookmarked!
Hi Julie! ~
I'm a french high school girl.
I was looking for informations about Norman Rockwell and I saw your home page.
I am studying English, and we spoke about him.
This painting is interresting, haha
the painter make a portray distorted ~
I'm sorry I don't speak Englush very well, but I hope you'll understand my comment!
Bye
HI JULIE:
I'm a mexican frend. I dont spick english very well, excuse me.
but I'm a fan of Rokcwel, my father is an artist and he have two books of Norman Rokcwel and for that i know him.
NM is for mi the greatest illustrator in the history. his pictures are fantastics.
I hope to be your frend
This is my Good luck that I found your post which is according to my search and topic, I think you are a great blogger, thanks for helping me out from my problem..
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