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Lesson
6
In his oil painting, Triple Self-Portrait, for a February 1960 Post Cover, Norman Rockwell pictured himself at an easel. For inspiration, clips of four small self-portraits were pinned to the upper right corner of his canvas: Durer, Michelangelo, Picasso and Van Gogh. A hundred years from now another painter will likely tack portrait prints of his or her heroes for inspiration. Perhaps those masters will include a boyish, lanky, hard-working illustrator: someone known for his enormous Adams apple and even larger heart. More than any other artist, and arguably more than any other storyteller, he recorded 20th century America. While Rockwell painted many self-portraits over the years, this one, done when the artist was 66 years old, is the most famous. Compare the Norman Rockwell you see in the mirror with the drawing. Why do you think he would paint different versions of himself? This picture has a white background and needs the paint brushes and tubes of paint to create the illusion of a floor. Without these items, everything else in the picture would appear to be floating in space. Diagonal lines created by the paintbrushes bring you into the picture and lead your eye to the stool, then to Norman Rockwell and finally to his portrait.
The pictures of NORMAN ROCKWELL (1894-1978) were recognized and loved by almost everybody in America. The cover of The Saturday Evening Post was his showcase for over forty years, giving him an audience larger than that of any other artist in history. Over the years he depicted there a unique collection of Americana, a series of vignettes of remarkable warmth and humor. In addition, he painted a great number of pictures for story illustrations, advertising campaigns, posters, calendars, and books. As his personal contribution during World War II, Rockwell painted the famous "Four Freedoms" posters, symbolizing for millions the war aims as described by President Franklin Roosevelt. One version of his "Freedom of Speech" painting is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 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.
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. In 1957 the United States Chamber of Commerce in Washington cited him as a Great Living American, saying that..."Through the magic of your talent, the folks next door - their gentle sorrows, their modest joys - have enriched our own lives and given us new insight into our countrymen." The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts has established a large collection of his paintings, and has preserved Rockwell's last studio as well.
The pictures of Norman Rockwell were recognized and loved by almost everybody in America. The cover of The Saturday Evening Post was his showcase for over forty years, giving him an audience larger than that of any other artist in history. Over the years he depicted there a unique collection of Americana, a series of vignettes of remarkable warmth and humor. In addition, he painted a great number of pictures for story illustrations, advertising campaigns, posters, calendars, and books.