Norman Rockwell
September 20 - January 3, 2010
"I
paint life as I would like it to be," said the
great illustrator Norman Rockwell. Seeing himself as a storyteller, Rockwell
created the 
images that defined
America and Americans, in this country and abroad. His enormous impact was
achieved through the 321 covers he created for the Saturday Evening Post
from 1916 to 1963. Among Rockwell's most memorable renditions of Americana
is his iconic Four Freedoms series of patriotic paintings symbolizing President
Roosevelt's wartime aims: Freedom of Speech, Freedom to Worship,
Freedom from Want and Freedom from Fear. This contribution
to the war effort, published in four consecutive issues of the Saturday
Evening Post, raised nearly $140 million in war bonds. (right:
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), Bridge Game - The Bid, 1948, oil on
canvas, 46 1/2 x 38 1/2 inches, signed lower left. Saturday Evening Post
cover, May 15, 1948. LNM #C443. © 2009 National Museum of American
Illustration Newport RI www.AmericanIllustration.org. Photos courtesy Archives
of American Illustrators Gallery NYC.)
Norman Rockwell, opening at Nassau County Museum of Art (NCMA) on Sunday, September 20, 2009 and remaining on view through Sunday, January 3, 2010, is organized by American Illustrators Gallery, New York City and The National Museum of American Illustration, Newport, Rhode Island. The exhibition is curated for NCMA by Constance Schwartz and Franklin Hill Perrell and includes approximately 300 Saturday Evening Post covers and about 48 Rockwell paintings.
A poet of the American heartland, Norman Rockwell was born 115 years ago in Manhattan's Upper West Side. He demonstrated drawing talent from his earliest years, sketching as literary works were read to him aloud. While in high school, he studied at the Chase School of Fine and Applied Art. Leaving school before graduation, he went on to attend the National Academy of Design, later transferring to the Art Students League. His earliest commission, at the age of 16, was for Christmas cards. He was then retained to illustrate a series of children's books. Rockwell became the art director for Boy's Life, the official publication of the Boy Scouts of America. His association with the Boy Scouts was to continue for a half century. Rockwell began freelancing his services to magazines, among them Life, Literary Digest and Country Digest. At 22, he began his legendary association with the Saturday Evening Post, the most prestigious magazine of that era. Rockwell's first work for the Post was Mother's Day Off which ran on the May 20, 1916 cover. From then, until 1963, he went on to produce 321 Post covers. It was these illustrations that came to be his greatest legacy.
In conjunction with the showing of Norman Rockwell, NCMA is sponsoring several public programs to illuminate and enhance the experience of viewing the exhibition. For information about the events or to register, call (516) 484-9338, ext 12 or log onto http://www.nassaumuseum.com/
The exhibition is sponsored by Sterling Glen Senior Living with support from Wachovia Bank and Wells Fargo and Company.
(above: Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), Volunteer Fireman, 1931, oil on canvas, 41 x 31 inches, signed lower right. Saturday Evening Post cover, March 28, 1931 . Buechner, illus. 265. LNM #C322. © 2009 National Museum of American Illustration Newport RI www.AmericanIllustration.org. Photos courtesy Archives of American Illustrators Gallery NYC. )
Essay
To view The Remembrance of Things Past: Norman Rockwell at Nassau County Museum of Art, by Charles A. Riley II, PhD, Curator-at-Large, please click here.
Additional images
To view additional images from the exhibition please click here.
Object labels
To view object labels from the exhibition please click here.
Resource Library readers may also enjoy:
American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell (3/26/09)
Picturing Health: Norman Rockwell and the Art of Illustration (2/3/07)
Salute to Norman Rockwell; essay by Richard N. Gregg (4/13/05)
Norman Rockwell's Four Freedoms: Paintings That Inspired a Nation (4/1/04)
Norman Rockwell Image Promotes French Museum Exhibit (3/19/04)
Freedom: Norman Rockwell's Vermont Years (5/22/03)
Norman Rockwell: Pictures for the American People (3/22/01)
322 Norman Rockwell Covers (9/18/00)
Hooray for Rockwell's Hollywood (6/12/99)
Family Ties: Rockwell's Art for Family, Friends and Fun
Resource Library articles and essays by Franklin Hill Perrell:
Private Collections: Patterns and Aesthetics; essay by Franklin Hill Perrell (8/11/05)
Reginald Marsh; essay by Franklin Hill Perrell (2/16/06)
Mort Künstler - The American Spirit; essay by Franklin Hill Perrell (8/31/06)
Op Art; essay by Franklin Hill Perrell (2/8/08)
Introduction - Iris Apfel: Rare Bird of Fashion; essay by Franklin Hill Perrell (5/17/08)
Louis Comfort Tiffany: Long Islander of the Gilded Age; essay by Franklin Hill Perrell (9/3/08)
Andy Warhol Silkscreens; with essay by Franklin Hill Perrell (2/4/09)
Resource Library articles and essays by Constance Schwartz:
Infamous New York: Bosses, Burlesque & Mayhem; essay by Constance Schwartz (2/16/06)
Towards Popular Art; essay by Constance Schwartz (2/8/08)
Iris Apfel: Rare Bird of Fashion; essay by Constance Schwartz (5/17/08)
Tiffany Lamps: Articles of Utility, Objects of Beauty; essay by Constance Schwartz (9/3/08)
Resource Library articles and essays by Franklin Hill Perrell and Constance Schwartz:
Red Grooms: Ruckus in Roslyn; essays by Constance Schwartz and Franklin Hill Perrell (11/4/05)
Online videos:
AOL Television offers Biography: Norman
Rockwell, [47:00] via truveo.com
which says of the video: "It is a source of fury to the formal art
world that Norman Rockwell was and remains the most visible and beloved
of the American painters of this century. His name has come to symbolize
the best of an era when American had a single clean, shining patriotic vision.
A time when God, country and goodness meant not just something, but everything.
While the 320 Rockwell covers for the "Saturday Evening Post"
are part of the past, his happy fame lives on in the collections of people
as diverse as Richard Nixon, Johnny Carson, Steven Spielberg, Andy Warhol
and Ringo Starr. This biography uncovers the complicated man who produced
the glorious and uncomplicated paintings that thrilled America for sixty
years--from his deathless "Four Freedoms" and "Willie Gillis
G.I." series to h is panoply of civil rights, baseball, young love
and Christmas classics. This biogrpahy illustrates not only the artist and
his paintings, but the nation as Rockwell helped shape it. Filled with the
insights of experts and the people who knew Rockwell. A perfect delight.".
Distributed by Lou Reda Productions.
ArtBabble's
American Art
channel on the site contained, as of August, 2009: -- "Conserving
Norman Rockwell's "United Nations"" from Norman Rockwell
Museum [0:14:19] and -- "Norman
Rockwell Museum: An Introduction" from Norman Rockwell Museum [0:06:34]
Illustrated audio:
Smithsonian American Art Museum presents Telling Stories: Norman Rockwell from the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, July 2, 2010 - January 2, 2011: video podcast (illustrated audio) about the exhibition
DVD-VHS videos:
Norman Rockwell: An American Portrait is a 60 minute 2002 video from V.I.E.W. Video is a PBS special,
narrated by 3-time Emmy 
Award nominee
Mason Adams. Norman Rockwell had a love affair with America. His poignant
paintings captured the truths of daily life with a simple humane grace and
greeted Americans from the cover of The Saturday Evening Post for
over five decades. This documentary celebrates Rockwell's life and art,
with interviews and commentary by art historians, close friends and the
artist himself. "This notable documentary shows Rockwell was a perceptive
social commentator of exceptional artistic skill and narrative power"
(Entertainment Weekly). DVD: Bonus features include a Norman Rockwell
biography, an art gallery and more.
Norman Rockwell. "Norman
Rockwell's distinctive illustrations, glowing with the simple, noble character
of average citizens, crystallized an image of 20th 
century
American life." This 50 minute 1994 A&E Biography video
"provides an intimate portrait of the artist and the man with interviews
of friends and people he used as models and takes us on a tour of the Norman
Rockwell Museum and his best-known images."
Norman Rockwell: Painting America is
an 86 minute 1999 American Masters Production from Winstar Home Entertainment.based
on the award-winning 
PBS series.
Norman Rockwell: Painting in America looks at the life and art of
one of America's most celebrated illustrators. Best known for his memorable
covers of The Saturday Evening Post, Rockwell achieved unprecedented
fame for masterfully showing warmth and humor in his renderings of everyday
life. This program includes interviews with artists, critics, historians,
friends and admirers, as well as archival newsreel and television footage
of the artist himself. VHS/DVD. Click
here to view an extended clip of the video.
Norman Rockwell's World: An American Dream is a 24 minute 1972 video directed by Robert Deubel that presents
the world of American illustrator Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) through reenactment,
stills, paintings, and old film footage. Rockwell himself narrates this
Academy Award®-winning film. Using the artwork
and the commentary of Rockwell himself in 
combination
with old film footage and staged reenactments, the Saturday Evening Post
covers once again come alive.
Editor's note: The Nassau County Museum of Art provided source material to Resource Library for this article.. If you have questions or comments regarding the source material, please contact the Nassau County Museum of Art directly through either this phone number or web address:
516-484-9338
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rev. 9/8/09
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