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Happy Birthday Norman Rockwell!
February 3 is the birthday of legendary artist Norman Rockwell. This painter and illustrator is best known for the numerous covers he created for The Saturday Evening Post – a whopping 322 covers over 47 years. Americana at its finest, Rockwell’s works most often depict idealized scenarios of everyday life.
Rockwell was born in 1894 in New York City. He attended the Chase Art School, and then went to the National Academy of Design and later to the Art Students League. In 1913, Rockwell was hired as the art director for Boy’s Life, a publication of the Boy Scouts of America.
Rockwell attempted to enlist in the U.S. Navy during World War I, but was rejected because he was several pounds underweight. Not to be deterred, Rockwell went on an all-night eating binge and gained enough weight for the military to enlist him the next day. However, he was assigned the role of military artist and never saw any combat action during his tour of duty. In 1943, Rockwell painted a patriotic series called “The Four Freedoms.” Exhibition of these works helped raise almost $140 million for the World War II bond effort.
Rockwell also illustrated calendars for the Boy Scouts of America from 1925 until 1976. Later in his career, Rockwell spent ten years painting for Look magazine, where he focused on his interests in civil rights, poverty, and space exploration. He was commissioned to paint portraits for Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon, as well as other high profile figures such as Judy Garland. In 1977, Rockwell was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor for a civilian.
An avid pipe smoker, Rockwell died of emphysema in 1978 at the age of 84. In 1994, the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative 29-cent stamp in his honor, which featured his well-known “Triple Self-Portrait” painting.
During his lifetime, Rockwell produced over 4,000 original works, many of which were destroyed by fire or are in permanent collections. Today, the largest collection of Rockwell’s paintings and drawings is housed in the Norman Rockwell Museum near the artist’s home in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
So what was the secret to Rockwell’s great success? According to Rockwell, “If a picture wasn’t going very well, I’d put a puppy in it.”
