Painted in 1921
Norman Rockwell is among the most revered painters of the 20th century. His figurative and portrait paintings reflect an innocent and idyllic America described by the artist as "life as I would like it to be." For nearly 50 years, he illustrated the covers of The Saturday Evening Post in a rich and emotive style that gave distinctive personalities to his imagined characters. In total, Norman Rockwell created more than 4,000 works of art over the course of his life.
Rockwell was born in 1894 in New York City. His artistic aspirations took shape early on, and when he was 14 years old, he took classes at the New York School of the Art, which is now the Parsons School of Design. Later, he attended the Art Students League of New York, where he studied under influential painters Thomas Fogarty and George Bridgman. While still a teen, Rockwell became art director of the Boy Scouts of America publication Boys' Life.
At 21, Rockwell moved to New Rochelle, New York, and opened a studio with fellow illustrator Victor Clyde Forsythe. He created illustrations for magazines like Literary Digest and Life before his first cover for The Saturday Evening Post was published when he was 22. In 1939, after moving to Arlington, Vermont, Rockwell pivoted to making the nostalgic paintings of small-town and iconic America for which he is best known — scenes of Christmas dinner, children playing in the street and national treasures like Ruby Bridges and Rosie the Riveter.
In 1943, a speech previously given by President Franklin Roosevelt inspired Rockwell to create his most famous series, “The Four Freedoms,” which was exhibited all over the United States. The series included four pieces entitled Freedom of Speech, Freedom to Worship, Freedom from Want and Freedom from Fear.
Rockwell moved with his family to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, in 1953, where he spent the rest of his life. My Adventures as an Illustrator — the autobiography Rockwell wrote with the help of his son, Thomas — was published in 1960. In 1963, Rockwell ceased working with The Saturday Evening Post and started drawing illustrations for Look magazine.
The world’s largest collection of original Rockwell art can be found at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge. The artist was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977, and he passed away peacefully in his home the following year.
On 1stDibs, find a collection of original Norman Rockwell paintings, prints, drawings and other works.
It’s Never Too Late to Mend
By Norman Rockwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Signed by Artist Lower Right Commissioned from the artist by Coats & Clark thread company circa 1939 Exhibited at the Mint Museum, January 2022
Oil
An Audience of One
By Norman Rockwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Right Literature: Laurie Norton Moffatt, Norman Rockwell: A Definitive Catalogue, Norman Rockwell Museum...
Canvas, Oil
Study for 'The Collector'
By Norman Rockwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Over the course of his long and prolific career, Norman Rockwell executed over 300 cover illustrations for The Saturday Evening Post. In addition to these beloved commissions, Rockwe...
Oil
In the Workshop
Located in New York, NY
This masterful and detail oriented depiction of potentially three generations of what may be leather tanners and or saddle-makers in their workshop is a very American genre scene tha...
Canvas, Oil
Toy Maker Study
By Joseph Christian Leyendecker
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Upper Left
Canvas, Oil
Norman Rockwell -- Dreams of Long Ago
By Norman Rockwell
Located in BRUCE, ACT
Norman Rockwell Dreams of Long Ago, 1976 Lithograph Hand signed lower right Edition 18 / 200 Image size 68 x 51 cm Sheet size 85 x 60 cm Dreams of Long Ago/Cowboy with Gramophone...
Lithograph
An Audience of One - Santa
By Norman Rockwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Right Literature: Laurie Norton Moffatt, Norman Rockwell: A Definitive Catalogue, Norman Rockwell Museum at Stockbridge, Stockbridge, M...
Canvas, Oil
$5,648
H 37.01 in W 37.01 in D 1.58 in
Secrets, oil painting on canvas after Norman Rockwell
By Norman Rockwell
Located in Gavere, BE
Secrets, oil painting on canvas after Norman Rockwell The original painting was used for the cover of a 1942 Saturday Evening Post. Hand-painted edition after the Painting of Secre...
Canvas, Oil
Maxwell House Coffee Illustration
By Norman Rockwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Signed by Artist Lower Right Maxwell House Coffee Illustration Few artists have ever pulled on our nation's heartstrings, particularly in reference to family and generations, as adeptly as Norman Rockwell. From his earliest advertisements to his patriotic World War II subjects, Rockwell's virtuoso was in his ability to capture the essence of American culture and a view of a more innocent time in our country's history. Rockwell states: "I was showing the America I knew and observed to others who might not have noticed. And perhaps, therefore, this is one function of the illustrator. He can show what has become so familiar that it is no longer noticed. The illustrator thus becomes a chronicler of his time." (as quoted in Norman Rockwell: A Definitive Catalogue, Stockbridge, Massachusetts, 1986, p. xii) Recognizing the need for reminiscence from young and old alike, Rockwell effectively captures a timeless scene: Here, two old friends gingerly and jovially play a game of chess, sipping coffee as they wait for their furry friend to make the next move. The work is executed in Rockwell's signature descriptive style of finely drawn, clear realism with a wealth of fascinating detail. In discussing his career, Rockwell commented, "I was showing the America I knew and observed to others who might not have noticed. And perhaps, therefore, this is one function of the illustrator. He can show what has become so familiar that it is no longer noticed. The illustrator thus becomes a chronicler of his time." (as quoted in Norman Rockwell: A Definitive Catalogue, Stockbridge, Massachusetts, 1986, p. xii) Rockwell seemingly utilizes one of his favorite models in the present work-James K. Van Brunt. The artist recalled his initial meeting with Van Brunt in 1924 in New Rochelle, New York: "I remember it was June and it was terribly hot. I was working in my underwear and not getting along too well because my brushes were slippery with perspiration. Suddenly the downstairs door banged and I heard someone come up the stairs treading on each step with a loud, deliberate thump...A tiny old man with a knobby nose, an immense, drooping mustache, and round, heavy-lidded eyes stamped bellicosely into the studio. 'James K. Van Brunt, sir,' he said, saluting me and bowing all at once. 'Five feet two inches tall, sir. The exact height of Napoleon Bonaparte!' And he pushed out his thin little chest, which was encased in a fawn colored vest. 'I have fought the Confederate Army at Antietam, Fredericksburg, and in the Wilderness,' he said. 'I have battled the nations of the Sioux under Dull Knife, Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull. I have fought the Spaniards, sir, in Cuba.' And he rapped his cane on the floor and looked at me very belligerently. Then, having ascertained that I wasn't going to contradict him, he took off his gloves and his wide brimmed hat, laid them on a chair, and patted his mustache. 'This mustache, sir,' he said, 'is eight full inches wide from tip to tip. The ladies, sir, make much of it.' And he winked at me and walked over to my mirror to stare at his mustache." (My Adventures as an Illustrator, New York, 1994, p. 206) Van Brunt was a consummate professional as a model, carefully practicing his poses in the mirror in advance of a session and, at times, inspiring the idea for the cover illustration. Rockwell stated that he used to suggest a cover almost every time they saw one another and referred to the day when Van Brunt first showed up at his studio as "one of the luckiest days of my life." (My Adventures as an Illustrator, p. 206) James K. Van Brunt appeared in ten Post covers by Rockwell, as well as countless other paintings used as advertisements, such as the present work. Given Van Brunt's distinctive visage with his mustache, the editor at the Post, George Horace Lorimer, complained. "Rockwell recalled, 'Mr. Lorimer said to me, 'I think you're using that man too much. Everybody's beginning to notice it. Maybe you'd better stop for a while. That mustache of his is too identifiable.' Rockwell informed Van Brunt of the problem, 'If you take off your mustache I can use you again...Otherwise I just can't.' Two weeks later Van...
Oil
Man in His Shop
By Andrew Loomis
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Calendar art, from the 1940's. Man working in his shop
Canvas, Oil
The Potter
Located in New Orleans, LA
Léon Olivié-Bon 1863-1901 French The Potter Oil on canvas Signed and dated "Olivie-Bon 1888" (lower right) This monumental masterpiece by French artist Léon Olivié-Bon is one of ...
Canvas, Oil
The Musician
Located in New Orleans, LA
Alfred Weber 1859-1922 I Swiss The Musician Signed “Alfred Weber” (lower left) Oil on panel This work by Swiss ecclesiastical genre painter Alfred Weber, best known for his humorous and meticulously detailed paintings, features a cardinal enjoying his leisure time. Weber's talent for rendering opulent interiors and his keen sense of comic narrative are evident in this painting. The cardinal, looking blissfully content, sits in his lavish living space playing the violin, accompanied by a flutist. Alfred Charles Weber...
Oil, Panel
Tender Years: Moth Holes by Norman Rockwell
By Norman Rockwell
Located in New Orleans, LA
Norman Rockwell 1894-1978 American Tender Years: Moth Holes Signed "Norman Rockwell" (lower right) Oil on canvas From Norman Rockwell's acclaimed Four Seasons calendar series for...
Canvas, Oil
Blackstone Cigars
By Norman Rockwell
Located in New Orleans, LA
A charming relic of a bygone era, this rare oil is the work of the inimitable American illustrator, Norman Rockwell. The iconic artist’s ability to render the details and nuances of ...
Canvas, Oil
Come and Get It! by Norman Rockwell
By Norman Rockwell
Located in New Orleans, LA
Norman Rockwell 1894-1978 American Come and Get It! Signed "Norman Rockwell" (lower left) Oil on canvas Norman Rockwell's decades-long collaboration with the Boy Scouts of Americ...
Canvas, Oil
The Connoisseur By Georges Croegaert
By Georges Croegaert
Located in New Orleans, LA
Georges Croegaert 1848-1923 Belgian The Connoisseur Signed "Georges Croegaert Paris" (lower right) Oil on panel A Cardinal peers through a magnifying glass at gilded treasures in...
Oil, Panel
Perhaps best known as a Revolutionary War hero, Revere was also an accomplished silversmith, and this pot is now available on 1stDibs.
Discovered in Parisian cabarets, the performers reenergized the artist’s practice.
