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| Just Married, 1957, Columbus Museum of Art |
I picked up Schick's book, gave it a quick flip-through, then immediately added it to my stack. It is full of wonderful photos of the models Rockwell used for his paintings.
It is quite a treat to look into the faces of the real people we have all come to know and love through his legendary works. Rockwell never intended for his photography to be judged on their own, but they are actually works of art in their own right.
"There were details, accidents of light, which I'd missed when I'd been able to make only quick sketches of a setting. A photograph catches all that."
My Columbus Museum of Art has two of Rockwell's pieces, Just Married, 1957 and Soda Jerk, 1953. On a recent visit, I snapped a few shots to share with you. In the reproductions, his work looks so smooth and fine, but when seen in person, it is amazing how thickly he applied the paint.
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| Soda Jerk, 1953, Columbus Museum of Art |
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| Rockwell's son, Peter, was the model for the counter man in Soda Jerk. |
"Before a model even attempts to pose for me, I tell him the story I want my picture to tell because I want him to understand what I am trying to do, what I am trying to convey. Then I get into the pose myself and show him how I think it should be done." --Norman Rockwell
I just love this behind the scenes look at Norman Rockwell. His museum is located in Stockbridge, MA... a few hours from my home in NH.
ReplyDeleteLove Rockwells work...so interesting to read this.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the background information I had never before heard, Tess. Another reason I love this virtual community ~ non-stop sharing, learning, building.
ReplyDeleteThis was great information about a great man. I like some of his work in fact I like all of it, when I think about how he just seemed to hit the nail on the head with what was going on in our world.
ReplyDeleteQMM
this is wonderful, I always love behind the scenes peeks...I am going to check this book out :) thanx
ReplyDeleteHi! Willow...
ReplyDeleteOh! yes, I really like artist Norman Rockwell. (Realist artist/illustrator) Just like my favorite artist Georgia O'Keeffe, they both applied the paint on their canvas..."thickly."
Nice photographs/painting...I really like the painting "Just Married."
Thanks, for sharing!
DeeDee ;-D
It's great to get some of the visual 'backstory' of an artist of whom we tend to think, erroneously, that we know and have seen everything. Fine juxtapositions of photos and paintings.
ReplyDeleteGood education for me today! I wasn't aware of this background on Rockwell. Like you, his art isn't my favorite, but the images are captivating nevertheless. I grew up seeing these paintings On Sat.Evening Post, and other magazines. I was in the Rockwell museum years ago, but really didn't pay much attention... :)
ReplyDeleteI love the way you manage to present us with something sparkling at the end of your own perspective.
ReplyDeleteLove Norman Rockwell's work....this little peek behind the scenes is wonderful Tess!!
ReplyDelete:-)
nice..this looks like a really cool book and great to see where his inspiration came from...
ReplyDeleteI am surprised to read that he was talking of "accidents of light" - photography, after all, is painting with light.
ReplyDeletehow wonderful! his work is so expressive.
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful peek into Norman Rockwell's world. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteHow fascinating! I'm struck by two things; that he laid on the paint so thickly, and that he uses the term "post" instead of "pose" when referring to models. I suppose it's a period term, but I'd never heard it before.
ReplyDeletePainters and "accidents of light"...we're on a wavelength today!
Willow,
ReplyDeleteFinally a point on which we can disagree: Rockwell is one of my all time favorite artists. I think he is to painting what James W. Riley is to poetry.
Whew! I glad we have that out in the open. ;)
rel
tess there's something very appealing and almost addictive about the transition from photograph to painted image that draws me to wish for more. steven
ReplyDeleteJo, Rockwell did say "pose"...my typo.
ReplyDeleteRel, if Rockwell is your very favorite, then you've got to get Schick's book! You're gonna love it.
ReplyDeleteTess -- Oh I have enjoyed Mr. Rockwell over many years. Perhaps because his paintings expressed moments in everyday life. Refreshing photos, paintings and info on this post. -- barbara
ReplyDeleteI absolutely LOVE this!
ReplyDeleteI like the post. I have seen the book, and was surprised, although I shouldn’t have been, by his use of models. For years I thought he created the illustrations straight from what he saw in his head, and just painted them on the canvas.
ReplyDeleteso interesting! like you, i love comparing the photographs with the paintings.
ReplyDeletewhat fun to see the models, neat-o!
ReplyDeleteThe book is great, My son gave it to me for Christmas. One can learn much from reading it.
ReplyDeleteLove seeing the photos! I still remember the Saturday Evening Post and all those great covers -- quintessential Americana.
ReplyDeleteGreat draughtsman, great colourist, great painter. From this side of the pond, he seems like the 'all American artist'.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting, Tess. You've given me a new appreciation. I've never been a fan, but now I'm intrigued! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteOf course, we know Rockwell over here but I am not sure that we know the full range of his work. The interplay between photograph and finished picture is fascinating.
ReplyDeleteI'm not ashamed to say I love Norman Rockwell. His work makes me happy. I would love to get a Saturday Evening Post once a month and pour over the details. I had heard before that he used models, but I forgot. I think I wlll have to find this book. Thanks for the post.
ReplyDeleteMy first wife had a great-uncle who was a friend of Rockwell's and also a painter. Since learning that, I've felt more of an affinity for Rockwell (by degrees of separation, I suppose.)
ReplyDeleteWow, what a story.
ReplyDeleteI think it's just that he feels so commercial and slick. but he does capture a sort of American myth. Thanks for the close-up of the paint texture. I've never seen a real Rockwell and did think they were smooth and flat. Actually I also, like Rene, live about 2 1/2 hours from Stockbridge. Could see a lot in the flesh that way.
ReplyDeleteRodak, I find our interconnectedness, or degrees of separation, if you will, so fascinating. We are the world, we are the children... New earworm for today.
ReplyDeleteSuki and Rene, you must make a little pilgrimage to Stockbridge!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your typo, Willow.
ReplyDeleteGlad I came back to look at your pictures and the comments again, otherwise I would have erroneously believed that "post" was an old-fashioned term for "pose". ;-)
Merisi, I actually thought it was, as well! That's what happens when I let my fingers do the walking.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean - I wouldn't say Norman Rockwell is a favorite of mine, but I'm still fascinated by his work.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this!
:-) A.
Memories of the Saturday Evening Post! Thank you, Tess!
ReplyDeleteNorman Rockwell had a big influence on me as an painter and illustrator. I asked him for advice several times and he always sent it back to me sometimes in a letter and sometimes by a postal card.
ReplyDeleteI have several books about him. I was interested in his work for the Saturday Evening Post at the time and his proverbial circle his work had to center around. Later, after Post, he worked for Life and Look, as I recall. I never could afford to buy any of his work.
Abe, that's amazing you actually corresponded with Rockwell. He seems to have been a most congenial man.
ReplyDeleteWe had a lot of Rockwells here at the local art museum not long ago and I thought the same thing, Tess--his paintings were huge, too, that were here. Over 6' tall, many. I enjoyed the exhibit we saw. I'm actually attached to his work because I remember the magazine covers and I think I'm nostalgic for them.
ReplyDeleteThese photos of him look like he had a mischievous spark.
So much new information
ReplyDeleteand wonderful responses.
You generate a media buzz
with just a visit to your library.
I have enjoyed Rockwell forever,
like most of us; collected some
of his original covers that dated
back to the 20's. His photographic
realism now makes more sense.
I love the way photography catches the moment and preserves it for ever. Looking back at old photographs they are often so poignant.
ReplyDeleteIt is really interesting to have this information on Rockwell. I am amazed at how closely his work resembles his models! Thanks for sharing these tidbits, Tess.
ReplyDeletePat, of the blog Mille Fiori Favorti, recently wrote a post on a special exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum of Rockwell and his photograph models...It looks like a wonderful show that I am hoping will travel...maybe it will go to Columbus?
ReplyDeleteHer post can be found at http://millefiorifavoriti.blogspot.com/2011/04/brooklyn-museum-part-2-special-exhibits.html
VERY instructive. I had not realized the photography connection. Must do more investigating. Just returned from your glorious capital city, chilly but quintessentially inspiring.
ReplyDeleteOliag, thanks for the link to Pat's blog. I paid her a little visit and left a message. We were on the same wave length, for sure.
ReplyDeleteLeslie, you were here? Next time, you must stop by WM!!
ReplyDeleteI bought this book when it first hit the bookstores. I find it interesting to study the photos and try to trace Rockwell's thinking about the stories he was trying to tell.
ReplyDeleteThanks for eye view fact about the thickness of the paint. It's those types of details that one would never know unless they had seen the work in person. And now I know because you did!
Love the quote, "There were details, accidents of light" -- so true, in life, in everything.
ReplyDeleteInsightful, behind the scenes Rockwellian post, thanks for it!
Thanks For This Tess. I have never see/heard of Rockwell .He is good!Real Humanity in those faces & poses.
ReplyDeleteFor those of us growing up in a very different world, I long harboured a dream to walk into a American drug store, sit up at the counter & order a soda. The Aussie equivalent was the Milk Bar, where the most exotic thing on the menu was a Blue Moon milkshake (a vanilla shake loaded with lots of blue food colouring!) Rockwell's depiction of the Soda Jerk has brought my longing to do this back in a flash Tess.
ReplyDeleteMillie x
This is a great post, Tess. My husband loves Norman Rockwell. I can't help liking his pictures, and enjoyed going to the Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge,MA. WT (my husband, no kidding) was a soda jerk as a kid and Millie's post above reminds me of after-school stops for a cherry coke at Lilla's Variety.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely fantastic post! LOVE the pics, love them.
ReplyDeleteWhat can I say -- Rockwell makes me smile! Every time! The next time I fly into CMH, your museum is on my to-do list.
ReplyDeleteThis week's Magpie reflected the many times my tissue has been fixed, on a slide, under the lens of a microscope. I've seen many a slide ~ former husband a surgical pathologist/author/educator .. he still checks all my biopsies.
Oh, this is wonderful Tess! Great back story here. I love Rockwell's work. Maybe it's because I'm from New England, or maybe it's just because it makes me smile so. He captured simple moments and made them quite memorable. I hadn't seen the Just Married piece before. Boy did I laugh! Can you imagine what they were whispering to one another? ;)
ReplyDelete(Driving through Stockbridge this week and will be stopping by at his museum!)
Jayne, how fun to be paying his museum in Stockbridge a visit! I am totally envious.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post! Love the behind the scenes photos!
ReplyDeleteI never really was into his paintings but saw his work at the Guggenheim in NY years ago and had a new appreciation for his technique and his work.
Hope you are well!
It's just me Tess, I love Rockwell too, but the image of the "spent" confetti is kind of icky to me. I like the behind the scenes photos.
ReplyDeleteA very enjoyable post, I would love to see all the photos that inform Rockwell's art. I went to the first showing of his work in London earlier this year, which was very well attended, and did a posting of the visit. Had a great trip to Stockbridge to his museum and studio over a decade ago now. Thank you, I enjoy following your blog.
ReplyDeleteI actually do love Norman Rockwell - pure Americana, I guess. I'm delighted to hear about this book. I just ordered it from my library. YAY.
ReplyDeletei had an art teacher who told us Rockwell wasn't an artist, but an 'illustrator'...whatever; his form is genius. And to see his art up close is very inspiring. He is one of America's greatest artists.
ReplyDeleteLove the painting in every details on it...thanks for sharing with us.
ReplyDeleteI know he is regarded by some as a bit passe, but he still catches me smiling every time.
ReplyDeleteNot being from the States, I never spent time investigating Norman Rockwell and I have to say my limited experience with his art is in the form of porcelain statues sold at the jewelers from time to time. I think he is very expressive in portraiture. His finished works appear somewhat animated to me. His art did tell stories of the era in which he worked. Thick paint is so sensual and luxurious. Thank you for sharing this, Tess.
ReplyDeleteNot being from the States, I never spent time investigating Norman Rockwell and I have to say my limited experience with his art is in the form of porcelain statues sold at the jewelers from time to time. I think he is very expressive in portraiture. His finished works appear somewhat animated to me. His art did tell stories of the era in which he worked. Thick paint is so sensual and luxurious. Thank you for sharing this, Tess.
ReplyDelete