Art Wednesday

Surprise

Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978)

20th-century American painter and illustrator

Norman Rockwell was a prolific artist, producing over 4,000 original works in his lifetime. Most of his works are either in public collections, or have been destroyed in fire or other misfortunes (in 1943 his studio was destroyed in a fire and numerous original paintings were lost).

Rockwell was also commissioned to illustrate over 40 books including Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.

Rockwell's work was dismissed by serious art critics in his lifetime. Many of his works appear overly sweet in modern critics' eyes, especially the Saturday Evening Post covers, which tend toward idealistic or sentimentalized portrayals of American life— this has led to the often-deprecatory adjective "Rockwellesque." Consequently, Rockwell was not considered a "serious painter" by some artists, who often regard his work as bourgeois and kitsch.

However, in his later years, Rockwell began receiving more attention as a painter when he chose more serious subjects such as the series on racism – including the painting “The Problem We all Live With” (1964).

A girl with a shiner (1953)

The marriage license (1955)

The gossip

Rockwell's message - if two people know it is not a secret!

Little spooners, 1926

Appeared on the 24 April 1926, cover of The Saturday Evening Post magazine

Girl at the mirror, 1954

Check up, 1957

 Breaking home ties, 1954

Considered to be one of Rockwell's masterpiece, also one of the most re-produced. 

Rockwell's Breaking Home Ties was bought for $900 in 1960 and sold in 2006 for $15.4 million at a Sotheby auction - so for all those who didn't take Rockwell's work seriously, they should now!

~oOo~