Norman Rockwell

 

Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 - November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator.

The peculiar style of his works, defined as "romantic realism", has met with widespread popular appreciation, especially in the United States, and has influenced subsequent generations of illustrators. His fame is linked above all to the over 300 covers created between 1916 and 1963 for The Saturday Evening Post magazine, which together constitute a precious heritage of American popular culture of the last century.

He was born on February 3, 1894 in New York, second son of Jarvis Waring Rockwell, a New York textile entrepreneur, and Ann Mary Hill, of British origins. The young Norman demonstrates from a very young age, a strong attraction towards art and in particular of painting. Already at the age of fourteen he enrolled at the Chase Art School in Manhattan undergoing long commuter trips, in order to be able to attend the courses. Just two years later he left this first place to enroll in the National Academy of Design, and finally in the Art Students League, driven by the fact that the illustrator Howard Pyle, one of his idols, was one of the founders of the school. Before he turned 16, he was commissioned for his first job: the creation of four different Christmas themes for greeting cards. The following year he was given the task of illustrating his first book: Tell-me-why - Stories about Mother Nature.