Rockwell, Norman, 1894–1978, American illustrator, b. New York City. An enormously popular illustrator, Rockwell specialized in warm and humorous scenes of everyday small-town life. Best known for his magazine covers, notably for the Saturday Evening Post, he developed a style of finely drawn realism with a wealth of anecdotal detail. Rockwell's poster series on the Four Freedoms was widely circulated during World War II. The artist lived the last 25 years of his life in Stockbridge, Mass., where a large museum devoted to his work opened in 1993.

Bibliography

See his autobiography (1960); biographical study by T. S. Buechner (1970); biography by L. Claridge (2001).

Rockwell, Norman

(born Feb. 3, 1894, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died Nov. 8, 1978, Stockbridge, Mass.) U.S. illustrator. He studied at the Art Students League and received his first freelance assignment at 17. From 1916 to 1963 he produced 317 covers for The Saturday Evening Post. Most of his works are humorous treatments of idealized small-town and family life. During World War II, posters of his Four Freedoms were distributed by the Office of War Information. Though loved by the public, Rockwell's work was often dismissed by critics. Late in his career, he turned to more serious subjects (e.g., a series on racism for Look magazine) and began to receive more serious attention, and in the 1990s his critical reputation enjoyed a positive reassessment.

Rockwell, Norman (Percevel) (1894–1978) illustrator; born in New York City. Considered the most famous and popular illustrator in America, he studied at the Chase School of Art, Mamaroneck, N.Y. (c. 1908), the National Academy of Design (1909), and the Art Students League (1910), New York. He was an illustrator for major periodicals, such as St. Nicholas, Collier's, Life, Judge, Look, and most importantly, the Saturday Evening Post (1916–63). He produced calendars for Brown & Bigelow (1924–76), created advertisements, and illustrated such classics as Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Early in his career he lived in New Rochelle, N.Y., then moved to Arlington, Vt., and finally settled in Stockbridge, Mass. Using oils and an impeccable realistic technique, he idealized small town America and expressed a personal vision that occasionally rose above sentimentality, as in Breaking Home Ties (1954) and Triple Self Portrait (1960).