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Norman Rockwell
Norman Percevel Rockwell (1894 1978) is remembered for his heartwarming illustrations
of American life that appeared on covers of the Saturday Evening Post magazine for many
decades. Marked by nostalgia and moral fortitude, the paintings remain popular with
collectors.

When people use the expression "as American as apple pie" they could just as well say
as American as a Norman Rockwell painting. Rockwell produced cover paintings for the
Saturday Evening Post, a major magazine of its day, for several decades. In the process he
became nationally renowned. His nostalgic vision and eye for detail brought him enormous
popularity. "He created a moral myth in which people were reassured of their own essential goodness," art critic
Arthur C. Danto told Allison Adato of Life magazine. "And that is a very powerful thing." Film director Steven
Spielberg remarked to Adato, "Growing up, we always subscribed to the Post. He [Rockwell] saw an America of
such pride and self worth. My vision is very similar to his, for the most part because of him."
Summers in the Country
Rockwell was born on February 3, 1894, in New York City. His father worked for a textile firm, starting as office
boy and eventually moving up to manager of the New York office. His parents were very religious and the young
Rockwell was a choir boy. Until he was about 10 years old the family spent its summers in the country, staying at
farrns,that took in boarders. Rockwell recalled in his autobiography MyAdventures as an illustrator, " I have no
bad memorics of my summers in the country," and noted that his recollections "all together form[ed] an image of
sheer blissfulness." He believed that these rummers "had a lot to do with what I painted later on."
Rockwell enjoyed drawing at an early age and soon decided he wanted to be an artist. During his freshman
year in high school, he also attended the Chase School on Saturdays to study art. Later that year he attended
Chase twice a week. Halfway through his sophomore year, he quit high school and went full time to art school.

Started at Bottom in Art School

Rockwell enrolled first in the National Academy School and then attended the Art Students League. Because
he was so dedicated and solemn when working at his art, he related in his autobiography, he was nicknamed "The
Deacon" by the other students. In his first class with a live model, the location of his easel was not the best. The
nude young woman was lying on her side and all Rockwell could see was hei'feet and rear end. So that is what he
drew. Rockwell noted that, as Donald Walton wrote in his book A Rockwell Portrait, "he started his career in figure
drawing from the bottom up."
At the Art Students League, Rockwell I had two teachers who had a significant influence on him: George
Bridgeman, a teacher of draftsmanship, and Thomas Fogarty, a teacher Of illustration. Besides their expert
instruction, Walton wrote, "they conveyed their enthusiasm about illustration."
While still at the school, Forgaty sent Rockwell to a publisher, where he got a job illustrating a children's book.
He next received an assignment from Boys' Life magazine. The editor liked his work and continued to give him
illustration assignments. Eventually Rockwell was made art director of the magazine. He regularly illustrated
various other children's magazines after that. "I really didn't have much trouble getting started," he remarked in his
autobiography, "The kind of work I did seemed to be what the magazine wanted."

Paintings Made the Post

In March of 1916, Rockwell traveled to
Philadelphia to attempt to see George
Horace Lorimer, editor of the Saturday
Evening Post, to show him some proposed
cover paintings and sketches. It was his
dream to do a Post cover. So he set out to
sell Lorimer on his work. Since he did not
have an appointment, the art editor came
out and looked at his work, then showed it
to Lorimer. The editor accepted Rockwell's
two finished paintings for covers and also
liked his three sketches for future covers.

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Rockwell had sold every thing; his dream was not just realized but exceeded. This was the start of a long term
relationship with the Post.
His success with the Post made Rockwell more attractive to other major magazines and he beg in to sell
painting and drawings to Life, Judge, and Leslie’s. Also in 1916 he married Irene O’ Connor, a school teacher.
In 1917, shortly after the United States entered World War 1, Rockwel decided to join the navy. He was
assigned to the carnp newspaper, related Walton, and he was able to continue doing his paintings for the Post
and other publications. When the war ended in 1918, Rockwell got an Immediate discharge.

Top Cover Artist

After the war, besides magazine works, Rockwell started doing advertising illustration. He did work for jell-O,
Willys cars, and Orange Crush soft drinks, among others. Also in 1920, he was requested to paint a picture for the
Boy Scout calendar. He would continue to provide a picture for the popular calendar for over 50 years. During the
1920s RockwelI became the Post's top cover artist and his income soared. In 1929 he was divorced from his wife
Irene.
In 1930, Rockwell married Mary Barstow. They had three sons over the next several years. In 1939, the family
moved to a 60 acre farm in Arlington, Vermont. In 1941, the Milwaukee Art Institute gave Rockwell his first one-
man show in a major museum.

Four Freedoms
After President Franklin Roosevelt
made his 1941 address to Congress
setting out the "four essential human
freedoms," Rockwell decided to paint
images of freedoms, reported Maynard
Good Stoddard of the Saturday Evening
Post. With the U.S. entry into World War
2. Rockwell created the four paintings
during a six month period in 1942. His
“Four Freedoms" series was published
in the Post in 1943. The painting
portrayed Freedom of Speech, Freedom
of Worship, Freedom from Want, and
Freedom from Fear. The pictures
became greatly popular and many other
publications sent the Post requests to
reprint.
Then the federal government took
the original painting on a national tour to
sell war bonds. As Ben Hibbs, editor of
the Post, noted in Rockwell's
autobiography, “They were viewed by
1,222,000 people in 16 leading cities and
were instrumental in selling
$132,992,539 worth of bonds.” Then, in
1943, his studio burned to the ground.
Rockwell lost some original paintings,
drawings, and his extensive collection of
costumes. The family then settled in
nearby West Arlington.

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Wide Array of Work

Over the years Rockwell did illustrations for an everwidening array of projects. He did commemorative stamps
for the Postal Service. He worked on posters for the Treasury Department, the military, and Hollywood movies.
He. did mail order catalogs for Sears and greeting cards for Hallmark, and illustrated books including The Adventures
of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
In 1953, Rockwell and family moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts. In the summer of 1959, his wife Mary
suffered a heart attack and died. During the I960s, Rockwell painted portraits of various political figures, including
all of the presidential and vice presidential candidates. Most of these were done for Look magazine. In 1961, he
was presented with an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Massachusetts. That same year
he received an award that he especially treasured, wrote Walton. He was given the Interfaith Award of the National
Conference of Christian and Jews for his Post cover paining of the Golden Rule. Also in 1961, Rockwell married
a retired schoolteacher by the name of Molly Punderson.
RockwelI's last Post cover appeared in December of 1963. Over the years he had done 317 covers. 'The
magazine’s circulation was shrinking at that time and new management decided to switch to a new format. After
Rockwell and the Post parted ways, he began a different assignment, painting news pictures for Look. He also
started painting for McCall’s.

People choice
In 1969 Rockwell had a one man show ir New York City.
Art critics often were less than flattering toward Rockwell’s
work; if they did not knock him, they ignored him. But the public
loved his paintings and many were purchased for prices
averaging around $20,000. Thomas Buechner wrote in Life,
"It is difficult for the art world to take the people's choice very
seriously." Rockwell himself said to Walton, "I could never be
satisfied with just the approval of the critics, and, boy, I've
certainly had to be satisfied without it."
In 1975, at the age of 81, Rockwell was still painting,
working on his 56th Boys Scout calendar. In 1976 the city of
Stockbridge celebrated a Norman Rockwell Day. On November
8, 1978, Rockwell died in his home in Stockbridge.
Buechner noted that Rockwell's art "has been reproduced
more often than all of Michelangelo's Rembrandt's and
Picasso's put together." In 1993, a new Rockwell museum was
opened just outside of Stockbridge. Museum director Laurie
Norton Moffatt cataloged his art in a two volume book, wrote
Landrum Bolling of the Saturday Evening Post, and listed over
4,000 original works. As Walton wrote, throughout his life,
Rockwell followed the motto: "Don't worry; just work."

Afghanistan – Armenia – Chile – Estonia – Guinea Bissau – Haiti – India – Indonesia – Iraq – Kazakhstan – Kyrgyzstan – Madagascar – Mexico – Mongolia – Nepal
Oman – Peru – Russia – Slovakia – United States – Vietnam - Yemen
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Afghanistan – Armenia – Chile – Estonia – Guinea Bissau – Haiti – India – Indonesia – Iraq – Kazakhstan – Kyrgyzstan – Madagascar – Mexico – Mongolia – Nepal
Oman – Peru – Russia – Slovakia – United States – Vietnam - Yemen