Norman Rockwell Museum: The Home of American Illustration

The museum exhibition that I had the pleasure of seeing was the Norman Rockwell Museum: The Home of American Illustration in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The museum consisted of multiple paintings and exhibits. The art work that was displayed were mostly illustration paintings. The museum displayed work of artists of different kinds, especially Norman Rockwell’s work. 

Norman Rockwell Museum: The Home of American Illustration

         

Norman Rockwell was an established 20^th century painter and well-known illustrator. His work was well known in the United States and demonstrated the reflection of American pop culture. His work was very much appealing to the public. Rockwell tackled serious topics in his work as well but more known for American pop culture illustrations. According to Ways of Seeing by John Berger states, “Publicity exerts an enormous influence and is a political phenomenon of greatest importance. But its offer is as narrow as its references are wide. It recognizes nothing except the power to acquire” (Berger, 153). In other words, Rockwell uses the American culture as a staple of his work. Rockwell paintings illustrates American life in the best light. Society praised Rockwell for depicting American culture in a positive point of view. 

Norman Rcokwell

New Kids in the Neighborhood 1967

                               

Changing Times: Norman Rockwell’s Art for Look Magazine exhibition was centered on social issues such as civil rights. Rockwell wanted to make a difference with his art, as a highly respected and marketable illustrator he had the opportunity to do so. In Changing Times: Norman Rockwell’s Art for Look Magazine exhibition, the art piece that I selected was New Kids in the Neighborhood 1967. This illustration was made by Norman Rockwell; he used oil paints to create this. This illustration was based off of true events. This illustration is based on a black family moving into a white suburban area. One side there are two black children and on the other side there are three white children watching each other. Rockwell wanted to test tolerance, since this was based during the 60s where racism and civil rights were at a high. Rockwell is trying to display that everybody is equal. He illustrates that by showing how both sides have pets, how the boys have baseball gloves, and how the girls wear pink ribbons in their hair. This is also implying how the children might play together. According to Art of self-invention: Image and Identity in Popular Visual Culture, by Joanne Finkelstein states, “Some of these argue for an unconscious that is biologically determined and part of human nature, others for an historical formation specific to certain situations. The concept of the unconscious has been pivotal to understanding the connections between the individual and society, biology and culture, action and history” (Finkelstein, 105). This emphasizes how racism is taught; it is not by nature that people are racists.  In the background of the illustration there is a man watching this occur. This is displaying how adults have mixed feelings or wondering how they would feel if their child would interact with a person of color. This is symbolizing how racism is taught at a young age.

Girl at Mirror 1954

    

Coming of Age exhibition Rockwell uses emotions to draw the viewer, he uses events in people’s lives that were the most significant; such as the stages of our lives. In the Coming of Age exhibition, the art piece I selected was Girl at Mirror 1954. This illustration was created by Norman Rockwell and he also used oil paint. This piece was considered one of Rockwell’s most popular and poignant paintings. This painting consists of a girl who seems sad on herself image. Rockwell tries to evoke the bittersweet moment in a young girl’s life. The meaning behind this is how puberty changes a young adult. In this case, the girl is saying goodbye to her old self and saying hello to woman hood. According to Finkelstein, “Such a character values the idea of a ‘core self’ that emanates our ethical best but also understands the necessity of the opposite, namely, being able to invent an identity to suit the fluid character of cosmopolitan life” (Finkelstein, 9-10). To clarify, as a person gets older their mental state matures as time goes by. In this case, once the girl hits puberty she feels that she no longer has a need to play with dolls because that is looked as “childish” and not women enough. The alternative solution, is reading magazines because magazines are more mature.

Boy with Baby Carriage 1916

Norman Rockwell and the Saturday Evening Post exhibition consisted of covers and pages of publications that he created. Rockwell enjoyed creating these covers, he saw these posts as a form of storytelling. He believed that he could create a narrative without using any words. Rockwell tackled multiple topics such as marriage, child life, and household living. In Norman Rockwell and the Saturday Evening Post exhibition, the art piece I selected was Boy with Baby Carriage 1916. This illustration was a part of the many publications that was a part of the Saturday evening post. This illustration was created by using oil paint. Rockwell used children to make his message heard. The illustration consisted of two boys that are from a lower class making fun of another boy who is from an upper class pushing a baby carriage. Rockwell is breaking gender roles in this illustration. Pushing a carriage is considered feminine and not masculine. Rockwell is testing masculinity, by using young boys to display how boys at a young age tend to prove how masculine they are. For instance, the two boys are seen with baseball gloves, this represents how baseball is considered a manly sport. According to Berger, “A man’s presence is dependent upon the promise of power which he embodies. If the promise is large and credible his presence is striking. If it is small or incredible, he
is found to have little presence” (Berger, 45). In particular, by presenting oneself as dominant in any situation trying to convey that power is everything, especially men conveying how dominant they have to be towards each other. To clarify, the two boys who are a part of a lower class try to convey power and dominance over the other boy who is from an upper class. During this time, there were many social, cultural, and economic developments that challenged traditional masculine authority. The women’s movement, growth of urban, and corporate life was looked as threats to patriarchy in society. 

Norman Rockwell was a talented artist and was able to capture reflection in his work.  Rockwell is more known for art pieces that portraited American culture in the positive light. For many years, society believed in the glamorized version of what American culture is. There was this perception that the American lifestyle was amazing. Rockwell created pieces that tackled serious topics such as patriarchy, self-identity, and civil rights. Finkelstein argues, “Commentators and thinkers were increasingly interested in questions about how society worked. Presuming societies were entities of some kind, they sought expatiations in phycological reactions to the environment as well as in philosophical judgments” (Finkelstein, 104). To put it differently, Rockwell shattered the glamorized expectation of what American culture is. In reality America’s society has many flaws. He wanted to demonstrate all sides of American culture, the good and the bad. Rockwell did not portray American culture in a negative light, more in an honest point of view. The curators emphasized how Rockwell wanted to influence society for the better.  

In conclusion, the Norman Rockwell Museum: The Home of American Illustration in Stockbridge, Massachusetts; the museum consisted of multiple paintings and exhibits. Norman Rockwell was an established 20^th century painter and well-known illustrator. His work was well known in the United States, his work demonstrated the reflection American pop culture. Rockwell tackled serious topics as well. Rockwell wanted to make a difference with his art, as a highly respected and marketable illustrator he had the opportunity to do so.

Norman Rockwell Archive 

Works Cited

Berger, John. Ways of Seeing; a Book Made by John Berger. British Broadcasting Corporation and Penguin Books, 1972.

Finkelstein, Joanne. The Art of Self Invention: Image and Identity in Popular Visual Culture. I.B. Tauris, 2007.

Norman Rockwell museum, https://www.nrm.org/