An American Illustrator: Norman Rockwell

I am not feeling my best today, but I must admit that when I visited Google.ca, my mood was a little brighter. Why? Well, because when I did, I saw this:

 

After a quick visit to Wikipedia.org I learned that my first assumption was true: Today is Norman Rockwell's birthday! According to Wikipedia, the illustrator was born Norman Percevel Rockwell on February 3rd, 1894. His work, although often panned by art critics often reflected the whimsy of youth and the idealism of America during the 1940s and 50s; he was responsible for creating many iconic images of American Nationalism including the fictional private Willie Gillis, who Americans watched grow up on the covers of The Saturday Evening Post. 

  

The Willie Gillis debut: Willie Gillis Food Package (1941-10-04) (Source) 

 

Willie Gillis in College (1946-10-05) (Source)

Rockwell's paintings are percise and extremely detailed, but more importantly, they're filled with such honest expression that elicits a feeling of comfort and familiarity. It is a well known fact that he used overtly staged photographs for the framework of his paintings.

 

The Runaway, 1958, is an example of Rockwell's photorealism. (Norman Rockwell Art Collection Trust)(Source)

Many of  the subjects of these photographs were Rockwell's own family and friends. It is no wonder that his work is so widely used as a representation of the American "everyman". Visit NPR.org for more information.

For an interesting read on this method, try Ron Schick's book "Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera. From Amazon.ca:

Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camerais the first book to explore the meticulously composed and richly detailed photographs that Norman Rockwell used to create his famous artworks. Working alongside skilled photographers, Rockwell acted as director, carefully orchestrating models, selecting props, and choosing locations for the photographs--works of art in their own right--that served as the basis of his iconic images. Readers will be surprised to find that many of his most memorable characters-the girl at the mirror, the young couple on prom night, the family on vacation-were friends and neighbors who served as his amateur models.