Norman Rockwell: Pictures for the American People

About this book

Accompanying the first major traveling exhibition of works by Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) this volume presents a complete reappraisal of one of Americas most beloved artists. Contributors from a wide range of fields-including leading art historians cultural critics a renowned child psychiatrist and a leading graphic designer-shed new light on the complexity of Rockwells art and his place as a shaper of mass-media imagery. Stunning colorplates reproduce Rockwells paintings in crisp detail and the essays set them in fresh contexts discussing such themes as Rockwells urban scenes; the reaction by both black and white Southerners to Rockwells historic civil rights painting The Problem We All Live With; and Rockwells role in the development of American illustration. Above all this important volume examines Norman Rockwells critical place in 20th-century American culture.