Norman Rockwell
Artist of the Month
American Painter
- He was born in New York City in 1894.
- He always wanted to be an artist.
- He started art classes at age 14
- At age 16, he was commissioned to paint four Christmas cards.
- Not long after, Boys’ Life, the official publication of the Boy Scouts of America, hired Rockwell as art director.
- At age 21, his family moved to New Rochelle, NY.
- There he set up a studio and submitted work for a variety of magazines, including Life, Literary Digest, and Country Gentleman.
- A year later, he painted his first cover for The Saturday Evening Post
- He continued working for the Post for 47 years and created 321 covers!
Halloween
Protect and Serve
Rockwell’s famous painting The Runaway depicts a child literally on a pedestal–well, barstool–surrounded by a protective and understanding community.
Normally a scene featuring a runaway child evokes anxiety. Instead, Rockwell’s painting radiates comfort and safety in the form of a triangle of protection surrounding the boy. To the left is the fatherly state-police officer, at the top is the counterman, and to the right is an empty coffee cup, suggesting another good Samaritan had been sitting there not long ago. Perhaps the anonymous diner made the initial call to police and then stayed with the boy until the officer’s arrival.
Fun fact: The Runaway was staged in a Howard Johnson’s restaurant in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Rockwell later removed all traces of the chain restaurant in favor of a simple blackboard listing the daily specials often found in country diners “to suggest the kid had gotten a little further out of town.”
Rosie the Riveter
On the evening of June 6, 1994, the 50-year anniversary of D-Day, Jay Leno did a special tribute on The Tonight Show. He introduced several World War II veterans who were sitting in the audience before he presented his next guest, Mary Doyle Keefe. Mary was the model for Rockwell’s May 29, 1943, cover Rosie the Riveter. As Vicki Randle, a member of The Tonight Show band, sang the song “Rosie the Riveter,” Mary drilled several screws into a board making the drill sound at the end of the song.
Mary was a 19-year-old phone operator in Arlington, Vermont, when Rockwell called and asked if she “wouldn’t mind posing for a painting.” She posed twice because the white blouse and shoes for the first sitting were not what he was looking for. Mary explains that yes, she did hold a ham sandwich while posing; she did have the white handkerchief that peeked from a pocket; she never saw Hitler’s book Mein Kampf; and the rivet gun was a lightweight fake.
Quote
Activities
The covers of the Saturday Evening Post elevated the general population's concept of family, faith, and home in the heartland of America to national attention.
Rockwell's style of illustration featured characters with full faces and expressive eyes. His attention to detail was extraordinary. Choose a Post cover and note all the details that they see.
2. Each detail was staged by Rockwell. He had a closet that any drama company would envy. He collected authentic clothes and accessories for his models to wear. Norman would often buy or barter or trade his clothes for those of a farmworker or clerk. He wanted the faded color and texture of overalls and worn, rained-on and sweated-in hats whose brims rolled. Rockwell would often use mirrors as in the "Triple Self-Portrait," to help him see facial expressions that he wanted in his paintings.
3. Discuss his "four freedoms," created during Roosevelt's campaign for president.
--Freedom of speech
--Freedom of worship
--Freedom from fear
--Freedom fromwant