Norman Rockwell

"Without thinking too much about it in specific terms, I was showing the America I knew and observed to others who might not have noticed." Norman Rockwell

Norman Rockwell always wanted to be an artist. Rockwell was born in 1894. At the age of 14, he began taking art classes in New York City. At 18, he was a full-time illustrator of children's books and magazines. In 1916, Rockwell began to work at the Saturday Evening Post: he was only 22.
The Saturday Evening Post gave Rockwell a gallery for his work for over 40 years. His work appeared on 322 covers. As pieces of art, covers for magazine have some built-in limitations. A painting on a magzine cover must relate to the size and shape of the magazine. It cannot obscure the magazine's name, date, price, and so on. The painting must be meaningful and pleasing to a vast number of people and offend no one (or as few people as possible). It must instantly understandable without title or caption. It may amuse, edify or inspire, but it must do so at the first glance. No one will take the time to puzzle out the meaning of an obscure picture.
Most magazine covers appear one week and disappear the next. Yet the Rockwell Post covers have acquired a life of their own; they will continue to be cherished throughout the ages. The magic of Rockwell's work was its appeal to the general population. His paintings portrayed poignant moments most people have experienced at some point in their life. The settings show a rural America most adults are familar with. Rockwell presented this America always a little nicer than real life. The world he painted was always an idealized one.