Noting the Artistic Contributions of artist Norman Rockwell

TRAVEL POST:

Paying Homage To Norman Rockwell,  
The Rockwell Museum in Rutland, Vermont

normanrockwellvt.com


Artist Norman Rockwell 
created over 4,000 works in his lifetime

To me, Norman Rockwell is the artist of my lifetime synonymous with Apple Pie and Baseball and all-American values.  He created thousands of illustrations over his lifetime, and often highlighting every day Americans, and as a result he personified our culture during important decades from the 1940s.  With his fastidious eye and attention to detail, Rockwell capture the essence of the American spirit, and not just our virtues but our flaws and struggles as well.  His work graced the covers of many popular national magazines of our times. He is most famous for the Saturday Evening Post covers showing all American figures from boy scouts to service men, Soda Jerks, families gathering around the dinner table, immigrants, the racial struggles during the 1970s, but we also saw presidential figures, the advancement of the exploration of the Space industry and NASA, and just about anything else that made our news and was on our radar during these times. 

Who was he?

Norman Rockwell was born  in New York City on February 3, 1894.  After studying art as a young man, he quickly took a role as an illustrator for the Saturday Evening Post, where he worked for over 47 years.  As a young 22 year old, he relocated to Arlington, Vermont with his new wife, and that is where much of his work was created, and explains why this museum is in Rutland, Vermont.  Later in life, he moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts where many of his original art is located today.  Years ago, I stayed at the infamous Red Lion Inn in Lenox, and noted that many of his works lined the walls of this historic inn, and read that post here. I found out by the dossier in at the Vermont museum, that his family managed the Red Lion Inn which explains their passion for Rockwell's art and his works, and the halls of this historic hotel are lined with his art. 

Rockwell created art for many important magazines at the time-- The Saturday Evening Post, The Literary Digest, Boy's Life, Ladies Home Journal, McCalls, The Country Gentleman and a host of others.  He also worked with advertising agencies to create works for their campaigns, which became the "bread and butter" of his business.  Through these magazine covers, we can plainly see the heart of America, the very issues our country wrestled with, what we were proud of, our explorations and essentially, our soul.  To me, there is not quite any other artist in America who mirrors us the way Rockwell does.  His work was accessible as well, and during the Great Depression when budgets were very tight, his work soared and customers would hang his magazine covers on their walls.  Norman Rockwell was a commercially successful artist of his time.  Take a look at photos of my favorite works of his I captured at the Rutland, Vermont museum.  

Happy Nesting
XO Tamara
Sources: 
Biography.com; Norman Rockwell museum notes; Wikipedia