Last Friday I saw the Norman Rockwell exhibition at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Having seen it twice before in other cities, this time I concentrated on the stylistic changes throughout the artist's lifetime.
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) was the best known illustrator of what is often called America's Golden Age. The butt of jokes by many critics, his popularity continues to rise. Unlike a great deal of art in public galleries these days, Rockwell's work is still connecting. The gallery was jammed with a cross-section of age and ethnicity. Apart from popularity, Rockwell may be one of the more interesting and valuable studies for artists.
From his first Saturday Evening Post cover (May 1, 1916--a rich kid pushing his baby sister in a buggy while bully-boys jeer) when he was 23 years old, to his last (Dec 14, 1963--a portrait of the recently assassinated JFK), Rockwell painted 332 Post covers. Following these in chronological order is an education in the growth of capability, the progress of style, and the transformation of the artist.
In the earliest covers we see the eagerness of a young, growing mind--often wooden gestures and overworked, theoretical faces. By his twenties and into his thirties we begin to see the well-defined personalities of his subjects. We also gain a new understanding of the power of symmetry, silhouette, vignette and devices like legs and arms as vehicles of expression. Sophisticated colour and fine, painterly surfaces begin to appear. Strokes become caresses of painterly love. Finally, in later life, we see Rockwell tightening up, become more photo-dependent, less stylish, less sensitive to colour and less confident of his craft.
More than anything, we see an artist taking a lifetime to find out what he does well (faces in profile, expression of human nature and character, for example), and what he doesn't do so well (wide-angle scenes, crowds and overly complex busyness). Some of the middle-period magazine illustrations such as
Checkers, (1928) and a Colgate toothpaste ad (1924) rival the masters in characterization and gesture. We've illustrated these and others at the top of the
current clickback.
Best regards,
Robert
Esoterica: Things were not always easy for Rockwell. In his third illustration for Post, Grandpa at the Plate, the work was returned to the artist twice before he finally got it right. We begin to understand the symbiosis between art director and illustrator, just as artists have catered to patrons throughout history. Catering, by expanding demands on an artist, can be key to greater craft and technique. This sort of fine tuning set Rockwell up to paint the FDR-inspired Four Freedoms (speech, worship, want and fear) of 1943, prompting the largest wartime bond drive in American history. In all their integrity and passion, these paintings deserve to be seen by each new generation. Looking at the people looking at the Rockwells, I was having Rockwellian moments--our world sure has lots of wonderful faces.
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