American beauty: Painting life as it would like to be An extraordinarily prolific artist,
Norman Rockwell (1894 1978) produced some 4,000 paintings in his lifetime, not including a prodigious quantity of commissioned editorial, commercial, and advertising work. His death in 1978 was regarded the loss of a national icon,
an artist who, like no other, celebrated the American Dream.
Shunning experimentation and avant-garde techniques in favor of effective composition and relatable subject matter, Rockwell created
wholesome, homely paintings with accessible and aspirational appeal. Neat, quaint, and typically jovial, his subjects included
classrooms, prom scenes, and Thanksgiving feasts, while his most long-standing projects were covers for
The Saturday Evening Post magazine and calendars and covers for the
Boys Life publication of the
Boy Scouts of America. Imbued with optimism and patriotism, the work foregrounds classic professions such as doctor and teacher, as much as the conservative stalwarts of
military, family, and faith.
Hailed by President Gerald Ford as a
beloved part of the American tradition, Rockwell s works reveal as much about his own talents as they do about the story of 20th-century America. This fresh artist introduction from TASCHEN brings together key paintings and illustrations from his celebratory and sunny portfolio, as well as some more unusual works tackling the underside of the United States, to understand an integrally American artist, and the values and ideals that shaped his success.
About the series: Each book in TASCHEN s Basic Art series features:
- a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance
- a concise biography
- approximately 100 illustrations with explanatory captions
Karal Ann Marling is Professor of Art History at the University of Minnesota.
Cultural anthropologist and graphic design historian Jim Heimann is Executive Editor for TASCHEN America, and author of numerous books on architecture, pop culture, and the history of the West Coast, Los Angeles, and Hollywood. His unrivaled private collection of ephemera has been featured in museum exhibitions around the world and in dozens of books.