Book Description

Norman Rockwell spent seven decades capturing the essence of the American spirit on canvas. His paintings, which graced more than three hundred covers of The Saturday Evening Post, created the symbols of the nation during World War II, depicted beautiful women who still retained their girl-next-door qualities, showed boys and girls embroiled in the delights and disappointments of childhood and young lovers sipping ice cream sodas, and celebrated the joys of family gatherings. But most of all, Rockwell's pictures portrayed the strength and compassion of small-town America, earning him a unique position as both a storyteller and a chronicles of American history. Adults and children alike recognize Norman Rockwell's name and paintings as the embodiment of all that is positive in the American character. Norman Rockwell, who painted from 1912 to 1976, illustrated not only magazine covers, but also children's books, boy scout calendars, and advertisements for corporations and the U.S. government. He also portrayed all of the major presidential candidates from 1952 to 1972, as well as statesmen, actors, and popular heroes of the day. Norman Rockwell is a Rockwell retrospective, featuring work from almost every year of his artistic career. From an early series depicting the awkwardness and exhilaration of young Boy Scouts to his later series illustrating the Four Freedoms--Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear--for which America was fighting in World War II, to his poignant and authentic images of Americans at play, at work, and in their homes, this collection offers a truly spectacular and diverse array of full-color reproductions of Rockwell's work. Norman Rockwell allows the Rockwell fan to trace the evolution of the artist and his craft, year by year, through his paintings, his sketches, and photographs of him at work. This volume also contains a discussion of Rockwell's life, "A Great American Success Story," and a section describing the precise and deliberate way he created his paintings. In addition, Norman Rockwell features a preface by Maureen Hart Hennessey, curator of The Normal Rockwell Museum at Stockbridge. This collection of Rockwell's work, full of his most popular paintings--as well as much of his lesser-known work--is sure to delight people of all ages