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.”