I[:13:T] Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 - November 8, 1978) was a 20th-century American painter and illustrator. His works enjoy a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of American culture. Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening Post magazine for more than four decades. Rockwell's style provided and insight into American life with unusual style and insight.
Rockwell left high school to attend classes at the National Academy of Design and later studied under Thomas Fogarty and George Bridgman at the Art Students League in New York. His early illustrations were done for St. Nicholas magazine and other juvenille publications. He sold his first cover painting to the Post in 1916 and ended up doing over 300 more. Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson sat for him for portraits, and he painted other world figures, including Nassar of Egypt and Nehru of India.
Picture a nation of patriotic citizens unencumbered by want or fear, free to speak their minds and worship as they chose. In a simple room, generations gather for a bountiful Thanksgiving feast. In a dimly lit bedroom, a mother and father tuck their child safely into bed. At a town meeting, a man stands tall and proud among his neighbors. In a crowd, every head is bent in fervent prayer. This is Norman Rockwell's America as depicted in his famous "Four Freedoms" series.
Rockwell considered himself as a commercial illustrator, not an artist. Although his vast body of work has often been dismissed or stereotyped, Rockwell remains one of 20th-century America's most enduring and popular artists. Now, more than one hundred years after his birth, he is achieving a new level of recognition and respect around the world.
In 1907 the family moved to Mamaroneck , a small settlement on the Long Island Sound . Rockwell went to the local school but travelled the 25 miles to Manhatten to study at the the New York School of Art , an institution run by the artist, William Merritt Chase . In 1909, at the age of 15, he left high school and enrolled in the National Academy School . Rockwell found the teaching at the academy very conventional and in 1910 he joined the Art Students League. With teachers such as Thomas Eakins, Robert Henri, John Sloan, Art Young, George Luks, Boardman Robinson, George Bellows, Howard Pyle and Augustus Saint-Gaudens , it developed a reputation for progressive teaching methods and radical politics. At this time it had nearly a thousand students and was considered the most important art school in the country.
Many people loved his coming and going paintings. The two paintings hung above and below each other, contrasting a high-spirited family driving to somewhere, like the lake, on a hot summer day, and the horrible ride back. The second painting is the same car as the first, but going the other way, with the wrung-out dregs of the same family -- some of them slumping, sleeping or carsick, and barely visible. Norman's father, Waring Rockwell, worked in the textile industry. He was also an amateur artist and spent time with his son copying illustrations out of magazines. Waring also read to his family the novels of Charles Dickens. While he read, Norman drew the characters from the novels.
Rockwell left high school to attend classes at the National Academy of Design and later studied under Thomas Fogarty and George Bridgman at the Art Students League in New York. His early illustrations were done for St. Nicholas magazine and other juvenille publications. He sold his first cover painting to the Post in 1916 and ended up doing over 300 more. Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson sat for him for portraits, and he painted other world figures, including Nassar of Egypt and Nehru of India.
Picture a nation of patriotic citizens unencumbered by want or fear, free to speak their minds and worship as they chose. In a simple room, generations gather for a bountiful Thanksgiving feast. In a dimly lit bedroom, a mother and father tuck their child safely into bed. At a town meeting, a man stands tall and proud among his neighbors. In a crowd, every head is bent in fervent prayer. This is Norman Rockwell's America as depicted in his famous "Four Freedoms" series.
Rockwell considered himself as a commercial illustrator, not an artist. Although his vast body of work has often been dismissed or stereotyped, Rockwell remains one of 20th-century America's most enduring and popular artists. Now, more than one hundred years after his birth, he is achieving a new level of recognition and respect around the world.
In 1907 the family moved to Mamaroneck , a small settlement on the Long Island Sound . Rockwell went to the local school but travelled the 25 miles to Manhatten to study at the the New York School of Art , an institution run by the artist, William Merritt Chase . In 1909, at the age of 15, he left high school and enrolled in the National Academy School . Rockwell found the teaching at the academy very conventional and in 1910 he joined the Art Students League. With teachers such as Thomas Eakins, Robert Henri, John Sloan, Art Young, George Luks, Boardman Robinson, George Bellows, Howard Pyle and Augustus Saint-Gaudens , it developed a reputation for progressive teaching methods and radical politics. At this time it had nearly a thousand students and was considered the most important art school in the country.
Many people loved his coming and going paintings. The two paintings hung above and below each other, contrasting a high-spirited family driving to somewhere, like the lake, on a hot summer day, and the horrible ride back. The second painting is the same car as the first, but going the other way, with the wrung-out dregs of the same family -- some of them slumping, sleeping or carsick, and barely visible. Norman's father, Waring Rockwell, worked in the textile industry. He was also an amateur artist and spent time with his son copying illustrations out of magazines. Waring also read to his family the novels of Charles Dickens. While he read, Norman drew the characters from the novels.
About the Author:
Learn more about Barrie's Best Home Inspector. Stop by www.barrie-home-inspector.com where you can find out all about Professional Barrie Home Inspections and protect your investment.
No comments:
Post a Comment