NORMAN ROCKWELL Essay, Research Paper

Norman Rockwell who was best known for his magazine covers and

illustrations on the Saturday Evening Post, the Ladies’ Home Journal,

and Look. Rockwell was born in New York City, and he trained there

at the Art Students League. The cover of The Saturday Evening Post

was his showcase for over forty years. His favorite subjects were

everyday events that celebrated small-town life and patriotic themes.

The scenes were often funny and detailed that his pictures looked like

photos. He also designed many posters and painted a famous series,

The Four Freedoms, based on principles pronounced by President

Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941 and included into the Atlantic Charter.

From 1926 to 1976 he drew the Boy Scout Calendar.

He lived in New York City. he stated that it was “like living in

another world,” and completely transformed his already successful

career as America’s leading illustrator. but he later moved to Arlington

He drew pictures of his neighbors in both New York and

Arlington.

New York was a great place for him to draw pictures of his neighbors

because they were so abundant.

Rockwell 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. His early art

works were done for St. Nicholas magazine and other publications. He

sold his first cover painting to the Post in 1916 and ended up doing over

300 more.

In 1957 the United States Chamber of Commerce in Washington

awarded 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.”