322 Norman Rockwell Covers

The Norman Rockwell Museum at Stockbridge

Stockbridge, MA

413-298-4100

http://www.nrm.org

322 Norman Rockwell Post Covers

September 2, 2000 - May 28, 2001

Back by popular demand, this archival exhibit shows all 322 covers Norman Rockwell illustrated for the Saturday Evening Post. Featured more than any other cover artist, Rockwell's covers chronicled everyday life as well as the impact of social and political events. "In those days the cover of the Post was the greatest show window in America far an illustrator," Norman Rockwell wrote. "If you did a cover for the Post, you had arrived." (left: The Runaway, © 1958 Curtis Publishing Company)

From his first cover at the age of 22, to his last in 1963, Norman Rockwell's work for the Saturday Evening Post charmed and delighted audiences for six decades. Rockwell became the leading cover artist for the Post, and it is his name that most often comes to mind when the Post is mentioned. Hundreds of thousands of magazines were added to the print run to handle the increased demand when a Rockwell image was to appear on the cover. It is a measure of the esteem in which Rockwell was held that his portrait of John F. Kennedy, the only one of Rockwell's covers to be printed twice, was chosen as the memorial cover. (right: Football Hero, © 1938 Curtis Publishing Company)

The Saturday Evening Post was the most popular magazine in the early part of the 20th century. Norman Rockwell's association with the Post began in 1916 and ended in 1963 with the dedicatory cover image of JFK after the assassination. The collaboration that lasted for 47 years yielded 322 covers, and numerous illustrations for stories and essays published inside the magazine. (left: News and Snacks, © 1925 Curtis Publishing Company)

Many of Rockwell's most famous images were done as covers for the Post, including Girl at Mirror, The Marriage License, The Runaway and No Swimming. Visitors to the Norman Rockwell Museum have the extraordinary experience of viewing the original oil-on-canvas paintings of some his rarely-seen works. The Norman Rockwell Museum maintains and exhibits the largest collection of original Rockwell art in the world.

The Post cover exhibition, curated by the Norman Rockwell Museum, has previously toured to New York, Connecticut, Delaware and Ohio; the Mark Twain Museum in Hannibal, Missouri; the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, OK; as well as appearing in Paris, France. This exhibition of cover tear-sheets entwines Rockwell's art with the concerns and occurrences of their times, chronicling a large part of the first half of the 20th century. The Post illustrations reflected both the triumphs and shortcomings of twentieth-century America, accompanied by contributions from some of this country's most prestigious authors. (left: Triple Self-Portrait, © 1960 Curtis Publishing Company)

The 322 Post Covers exhibition has received wide acclaim for its part in the museum's national touring show, Norman Rockwell: Pictures for the American People, currently at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. A blockbuster exhibition by all reports, Pictures for the American People will open at the Norman Rockwell Museum on June 9, 2001, after traveling to the San Diego Museum of Art (October 28 - December 31, 2000) and the Phoenix Art Museum (January 27 - May 6 , 2001). Pictures will leave Stockbridge to open in New York City at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (November 16, 2001 - March 3, 2002).

Read more in Resource Library Magazine about the Norman Rockwell Museum

Please click on thumbnail images bordered by a red line to see enlargements.

For further biographical information please see America's Distinguished Artists, a national registry of historic artists.

This page was originally published in Resource Library Magazine. Please see Resource Library's Overview section for more information. rev. 3/23/11

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