One of America’s most beloved artists, Norman Percevel Rockwell enjoy a broad popular appeal in the United States, where he is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening Post magazine over more than four decades. Among the best-known of Rockwell's works are the Four Freedoms series, the Willie Gillis
Norman Rockwell was born on February 3, 1894 as the second son of Jarvis Waring and Ann Mary Rockwell in their apartment in Upper West Side Manhattan. He had one brother, Jarvi Rockwell.
At the age of seventeen, Rockwell accepted his first real job as an artist illustrating the “Tell me Why Stories,” a series of children’s books. Shortly after that, in 1913 the nineteen-years old Rockwell was hired by “Boys’ Life” magazine, the official publication of the Boy Scouts of America as the art director, a post he held for three years (1913–1916). As part of that position, he painted several covers, beginning with his first published magazine cover, Scout at Ship's Wheel, appearing on the Boys' Life September 1913 edition. Rockwell continued his work with the Scouts, illustrating the official Boy Scout calendar for fifty years.
At age 21, Rockwell's family moved to New Rochelle, New York following his success with the “Tell Me Why" Series. and He set up and shared a studio with cartoonist Clyde Forsythe, who worked for The Saturday Evening Post.
In New York Rockwell began freelancing his services to magazines such as Literary Digest, Life, and County Gentleman. In 1916 the 22 year-old Rockwell - with Forsythe's help - sold his first cover, entitled “Mother’s Day Off,” to the most prestigious magazine of that era, The Saturday Evening Post. “Mother’s Day Off” published on The Saturday Evening Post cover of the May 20, 1916 issue.
Rockwell was published eight times total on the Post cover only within the first twelve months. That's including "Circus Barker and Strongman" (published on June 3), "Gramps at the Plate" (August 5), "Redhead Loves Hatty Perkins" (September 16), "People in a Theatre Balcony" (October 14) and "Man Playing Santa" (December 9). The Saturday Evening Post covers eventually became Rockwell's greatest legacy. Norman Rockwell published a total of 321 original covers for The Post over 47 years.
Despite Americans were extremely receptive to Rockwell’s work, especially in The Post cover, Rockwell's work was dismissed by serious art critics in his lifetime. Rockwell is not considered a "serious painter" by some contemporary artists, who often regard his work as bourgeois and kitsch.
However, Rockwell began receiving more attention as a painter when he chose more serious subjects such as the series on racism for Look magazine. In 2001, his work was exhibited at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. At a 2006 Sotheby’s auction, Rockwell's "Breaking Home Ties
" sold for $15.4 million . In 2008, a twelve-city U.S. tour of Rockwell's works is scheduled. Film director George Lucas owns Rockwell's original of "The Peach Crop", and his colleague Steven Spielberg owns a sketch of Rockwell's "Triple Self-Portrait
".Norman Rockwell married his first wife, Irene O'Connor, in 1916. The couple divorced in 1930. Then he quickly married schoolteacher Mary Barstow in Apr 17 1930, with whom he had three children: Jarvis Waring, Thomas Rhodes and Peter Barstow. In 1939 Rockwell family moved to Arlington, Vermont where his work began to reflect small-town life. In 1953, they moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts. In 1959, Mary Barstow Rockwell died unexpectedly. In October 25, 1961, Rockwell married Molly Punderson, a retired teacher, until his death in November 8, 1978, at the age of 84.
Norman Rockwell Official website
Norman Rockwell Museum, Vermont
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