Research - Artistic influences

Norman Rockwell

A Brief Biography

Without thinking too much about it in specific terms, I was showing the America I knew and observed to others who might not have noticed.
—Norman Rockwell

Born in New York City in 1894, Norman Rockwell always wanted to be an artist.

Rockwell found success early. He painted his first commission of four Christmas cards before his sixteenth birthday. While still in his teens, he was hired as art director of Boys’ Life, the official publication of the Boy Scouts of America, and began a successful freelance career illustrating a variety of young people’s publications.

At age 21 Rockwell set up a studio and produced work for such magazines as Life, Literary Digest, and Country Gentleman. In 1916, the 22-year-old Rockwell painted his first cover for The Saturday Evening Post. Over the next 47 years, another 321 Rockwell covers would appear on the cover of the Post.

The 1930s and 1940s are generally considered to be the most fruitful decades of Rockwell’s career. He moved to Arlington, Vermont, in 1939, and his work began to reflect small-town American life.

Saying Grace

Vacation

Gossip

In 1943, inspired by President Franklin Roosevelt’s address to Congress, Rockwell painted the Four Freedoms paintings. They were reproduced in four consecutive issues of The Saturday Evening Post with essays by contemporary writers. Rockwell’s interpretations of Freedom of Speech, Freedom to Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear proved to be enormously popular. The works toured the United States in an exhibition that was jointly sponsored by the Post and the U.S. Treasury Department and, through the sale of war bonds, raised more than $130 million for the war effort.

In 1953, the Rockwell family moved from Arlington, Vermont, to Stockbridge, Massachusetts and he began to work for Look magazine. During his 10-year association with Look, Rockwell painted pictures illustrating some of his deepest concerns and interests, including civil rights, America’s war on poverty, and the exploration of space.

Source: The Norman Rockwell Museum.  www.nrm.org/about-2/about-norman-rockwell/