The Photography of Norman Rockwell
Yes, you read that title correctly, I did say photography.
As you most likely know, Norman Rockwell is widely celebrated for his painted depictions of American culture in the 1930s through to the 1960s. His humorous and amazingly true-to-life characterizations giving us a snapshot of daily life in the United States.
Rockwell’s painting style was that of a literalist. He very rarely painted from his imagination, preferring to meticulously plan and set his scenarios right down to the finest of details using studio sets and photography to capture the scene. He was then able to work from the photographs in his own time without the need to use life models in awkward and uncomfortable poses.
Thanks to the hard work and dedication of the Norman Rockwell Museum, 20,000 of Rockwell’s negatives have been digitized and preserved. Works of art in their own right, these photographs help to give us valuable insight into the work process of this very talented illustrator.
Do you have a favourite Rockwell work? Perhaps you also use photography as your working references or do you prefer to work from life? We’d love you to share with us in the comments below.
Rosemary, The Magenta Marauder
Comments
My mom’s a huge fan of Rockwell. Though his images were a slice of life, it was a pretty idealized version of it, sometimes, LOL! And, funny to note that the marriage counselor image has the man with a black eye. Today, that’s domestic violence! There was an artist who worked in same vein, but in his own style and using current themes, C.F. Payne for the magazine, Readers Digest, for awhile. A shame that ended, it was really the only thing I bought the magazine for. I suspect Rockwell’s illustrations had a similar effect any time a publication hired him, too.
Certainly an idealized slice of life Cindy. I like to think his works represent our ideals rather than the cold hard realities of life.
Thanks for the link to C.F. Payne’s works. Wow, what a great artist! – Rosemary
– Community Curators
This is awesome, Rosemary! I grew up with Norman Rockwell (it was a staple in our home) and had no idea that he used photography to stage the settings for his works! That’s brilliant :)
I too grew up with Rockwell, though I didn’t know that’s what I was looking at. I was in my late teens before I had the lightbulb realisation that I knew this artist, and he’d been a part of my childhood for so long. – Rosemary
– Community Curators
Wow! This is fascinating! I had no idea he did this…great images, all!
A big Thank you to Cindy Schnackel for sharing the C.F.Payne link.
It defiantly worth a browse !
One of my favorite artist. I have all of his books. I try to do that style in my photography when I can.
This was so interesting!
Rockwell found some great models, and did a meticulous job setting up his reference photos. I always liked the character and details of his work, especialyy rhe humorous ones. Admirable work. Glad u liked the CF Payne link.
Thank you for this great feature. I read about N Rockwell that he set up elaborate staged sets and used professional photographers to take photos for his illustrations. In a movie about him , he reveals that in spite of his success, he would have liked to be a real artist, like Picasso.
Wow Karin, that’s interesting. That someone like him didn’t consider himself to be a “real” artist seems ridiculous. I guess it shows that we all doubt ourselves. – Rosemary
– Community Curators
Yes, he considered himself a illustrator whereas Picasso was a real painter – I understand what he meant. I used to do portrait commissions from photos, and people admired my realistic work, but I didn’t find it very satisfying after a while. I’m much happier doing what I really love, rather than copying photographs. I much prefer working from life as well.