Norman Rockwell

Norman Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November_8, 1978) was an early 20th century American painter. His works enjoy a broad popular appeal in the United States, where Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations he created for The Saturday Evening Post magazine over more than four decades. Among the best-known of Rockwell's works are Rosie the Riveter and the Four Freedoms series.

Critique of his work

Rockwell was very prolific, and produced over 2000 original works, most of which have been either destroyed by fire or are in permanent collections. Original magazines in mint condition that contain his work are extremely rare and can command thousands of dollars today.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Many of his works appear to the modern artistic eye as overly sweet, especially the Saturday Evening Post covers, which tend toward idealistic or sentimentalized portrayals of American life. Consequently, Rockwell is dismissed as a "serious painter" by some contemporary artists, who often regard his work as bourgeois and kitsch. He is called an "illustrator" instead of an artist by some critics, a designation he did not mind, as it was what he called himself. Yet, Rockwell sometimes produced images considered powerful and moving to anyone's eye. One example is The Problem We All Live With, which dealt with the issue of school integration. The painting depicts a young African American girl walking to school, flanked by white federal marshals, walking past a wall defaced by racist graffiti. It is probably not an image that could have appeared on a magazine cover earlier in Rockwell's career, but ranks among his best-known works today.

Related Topics:
Bourgeois - Kitsch - Integration - African American - White - Federal marshal - Racist - Graffiti

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Norman Rockwell's ability to relate America's old values to the events of a rapidly changing world made him a special person, both hero and friend, to millions of his compatriots. Like filmmaker Frank Capra, a contemporary of his, Rockwell had the near-unfailing ability to depict twentieth-century Americans as they preferred to see themselves.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~