There's a great piece in last month's Vanity Fair on a new Norman Rockwell exhibition, where Rockwell's art hangs alongside the photographs that served as the basis for his famous paintings. I know a lot of modern art fans don't really like Rockwell (he's too twee for some tastes), but I've always been a huge fan of his work. It's slice-of-life Americana that shows a world that I never lived in, and that I sense never really existed in the first place.
The VF article is excellent, and it gives great insight into what made Rockwell tick. And as much as the critics may pan him, you've got to know he's laughing right back at them.
This quote might give you an idea of where the story's coming from:
"The complexity of Rockwell’s process belies the “simplicity” often ascribed to his finished products. But then, this is an artist with a history of being patronized, mischaracterized, and dismissed as “merely” an illustrator whose pictures, which were intended for mass reproduction, cannot stand on their own as paintings."
It also gives me a handy paragraph break, and an excuse to post another Rockwell painting.
The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, is also running an article on Rockwell - but they're focusing on his "Freedom" series. Again, it's an excellent piece. And again, you have to admit the paintings have a charm all of their own.
