The Best of Norman Rockwell

by Norman Rockwell, Tom Rockwell (Editor)

Norman Rockwell was nearly as prolific an artist as he was gifted. In addition to his many paintings, he created over 500 magazine covers and thousands of commercial illustrations. In this volume, one of Rockwell's sons has carefully reviewed his father's vast collection of work and chosen his favorite representations from each decade. Many of the pieces come from the family's private collection and are published here for the first time; however, some perennial favorites, such as Triple Self Portrait, After the Prom, and Girl at the Mirror, are also included. Many of the images have been reproduced directly from the originals so details such as brushstrokes and the texture of the canvas are visible. The Best of Norman Rockwell will please readers any time of year, but there are quite a few Thanksgiving and Christmas pictures that make this a great book to have around during the holidays.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Biography, Reference, Art History, American History

136 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Norman Percevel Rockwell was a 20th century American painter and illustrator. His works enjoy a broad popular appeal in the United States, where Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening Post magazine over more than four decades. Among the best-known of Rockwell's works are the Willie Gillis series, Rosie the Riveter (although his Rosie was reproduced less than others of the day), Saying Grace (1951), and the Four Freedoms series.

Reviews

[Kelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Norman Rockwell is pure talent. He is the way life was, should be, should have been. Don’t believe me? Get this book from the library. What a gem! It includes many popular, widely-known paintings, as well as more obscure and older pieces. There are many magazine covers, as well as advertisements and sketches. It is truly amazing the way he could envision each scene, stage it (with locals, friends, and neighbors) and then work from the photograph to create each masterful painting.

My parents had the Main Street Stockbridge print over our dining room fireplace forever, and because my dad was a Statie, “The Runaway” has been a staple in my life, but without question, “Guiding Hands” is my favorite.

Honestly, I wish I could live in a Norman Rockwell painting. Most paintings depict not only old New England, but a time when neighbors cared and connected. Yes, please! I see a trip to the museum in our near future.

[Kelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved visiting these old happy paintings. I only wish there had been more words.

[Jera Em · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's a good chance you've already seen Norman Rockwell's art especially if you're in America. He had a huge influence. This is a good intro to his works and was compiled by his son; there are a lot of good pieces, a few of which I recognized, and there was a nice intro about him as well.

[Psilas · Rating 4 out of 5]

a great show of the beautiful artwork created by Norman Rockwell, the change is very noticeable in this collection. from the breathtaking photos to the detailed sketches this book is great

[Roderick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recurring themes of idealized small-town Americana reflects an innocence that possibly never was, but provides wish-fulfillment: it's a satisfying foray into a gifted artist's work, which celebrated ordinary lives & happy families.

[Tmac32 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was in my doctor's office and he had a Norman Rockwell painting hanging on my wall and it piqued my interest to look at getting something to look through some of his work. I know I'm stating the obvious here, the man was a genius. Takes you back to a simpler time. Works like "Freedom of Speech" and "Freedom to Worship" and "The Problem We All Live With" hold powerful messages.

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice collection, all in color. These are indeed the 'big ones'. Organized sequentially by decade. No index in the back with names of prints, however. I wish there were more images in this book, however. I've seen several collection books of his paintings, and the all tend to have more.

[Melinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these paintings. And it is fascinating to read about how some of them were painted.

[Maruca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is at the top of my shelf as the only favorite and appreciable of all. It will really be a legacy.

[Jenny T · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy the art of Norman Rockwell, but this book isn't all that i hoped for. I see Rockwell's work in restaurants/diners often and wanted to own some of his work. I even saw a homecoming picture in my American anthology that I enjoyed more than the ones included in this book. My favorite piece included here is probably "Boy and Girl Looking at the Moon." I like Rockwell's painting because it's semi-realistic but also gives off a positive, nostalgic tone. He had a great way of portraying the emotion in moments, just what I enjoy.

[Parka · Rating 5 out of 5]

(More pictures at parkablogs.com)

This is a splendid collection of Norman Rockwell's work. The book is larger than I thought it would be given the price. It's a 136 page hardcover.

The pieces are selected by Tom Rockwell, the second of the artist's three sons. It's the best-of so it doesn't have all the pieces he painted. There's only a few selected from his 300 over covers at The Saturday Evening Post — that's a separate book by itself, called 'Norman Rockwell 332 Magazine Covers'.

The paintings included are from 1910s to 1960s, arranged chronologically. It's a great way to see how his work as evolved over time. They are all printed full page. There's not much text except for the credits.

Besides the beautiful illustrations, there are also some sketches included. They are some portrait drawings and full composition. If I've not read the captions, I would have guessed they are black and white reproduction of his paintings. The sketches are quite unexpected, in part because they are rarely seen and in this book they are presented before the coloured illustrations.

There's something about the printing that hard to pinpoint. I don't know if it's the reproduction or maybe Rockwell painted it that way, but some of covers for The Saturday Evening Post look slightly yellow or aged. It's impossible to tell unless there's an original to compare to. The quality is still high in terms of details.

It's a fantastic collection.

[ella bella · Rating 4 out of 5]

beautiful selection! my only complaint is that the foreword is... terrible. from this book i learned two things: 1. i admire norman rockwell's art one billion, trillion times more than i had realized, and 2. norman rockwell's son cannot write whatsoever! nearly every sentence in the foreword was grammatically incorrect. it took me five minutes to read one minute's worth of words because my brain (against my own will) had to take the time to correct each sentence before i could move on to the next. and one question arises from all this: if this tom rockwell cannot write (a man who has not an eye for the english language is likely to be a man who has not an eye for art), then how can i trust his selection of his father's art to be a true representation of his best work? i can think of at least ten art pieces that should've been in this book that weren't there, and there are many in here that i would happily trade to feature others instead. regardless of all this, i am still so happy to own this book and i do not regret purchasing it even though i really feel sick spending money. norman rockwell's art makes me feel a way that nothing else can. it evokes pure joy with such ease... i love it so so so so so so so much. i can't wait to visit the norman rockwell museum in MA, hopefully later this year. i know i will be smiling ear-to-ear the whole time if i end up going.

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

My grandmother got this for me as a gift. It is a nice collection of Rockwell's work, but I'm not much of a fan.

[Neysha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book! That should be enough! It's just great!

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel refreshed after looking at Norman Rockwell illustrations. They satisfy my nostalgic yearnings.