Artist of the Month Norman Rockwell

10 things to know about Norman Rockwell

1. Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) is celebrated as a champion of small-town America.

2. Rockwell was born in New York and enrolled at The New York School of Art and the National Academy of Design aged 14.

3. Rockwell won his first commission just before his 16th Birthday.

4. Rockwell’s background was in the history of European art.

5. Rockwell’s career began in the ‘Golden Age of Illustration’. Rockwell was art director of Boy’s Life, the official magazine of the Boy Scouts.

6. Rockwell illustrated for the Saturday Evening Post for 47 years, producing 323 covers.

7.Rockwell’s biggest inspiration was painter Howard Pyle, one of America’s most popular illustrators and storytellers of the late 19th century.

8. Rockwell’s painting ‘The Problem We All Live With’ hung in the White House.

9. Rockwell painted the portraits of five American presidents.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.

10. Rockwell’s painting ‘Saying Grace’ sold for $46 Million in 2013.