Introduction
Norman Rockwell was and is still among the most famous American artists. During his long time career, the man fully exploited his drawing and painting career; his paintings also informed the American people on the need to live as one family despite their diversities. In all his paintings, he never showed misery or cruelty, but humbleness and kindness dominated his pictures. The artist, therefore, majored in the positive attributes of the American people. He also used the Saturday Evening Post to positively impact the American beautiful scenes. This paper, therefore, intends to focus on Norman Rockwell’s lifetime career and his iconic status.
Norman Rockwell as an icon in the American society
Norman’s life has not only assisted in the development of patriotic attitudes among the American people but has also motivated the many upcoming young artists who have passion in the drawing and painting career. His continued emphasis on the positive attributes of the American people really raised their image to the rest of the world’s communities. Norman also critically used his talent to boost both domestic and international tourism. He therefore fully exploited his talent towards marketing the leisure activities and joints in the American nation. As a great artist, Norman Rockwell has managed to rock the world of many American citizens with his excellent and technical drawing expertise. As a true American, he has been able to bring out the positive outlook that a prudent and patriotic citizen should exhibit only to a fellow colleague or a being counterpart. We can therefore truly term Norman as a true patriot who loyally and effectively stood for the positive side of his nation. The strong stand on the positive elements of the American people was also meant to transform the negative attributes which were of course still in existence.
His arts explore the beauty and uniqueness in the American land which further made the American people be proud of their land. Norman critically analyzed the lifestyles of people living around him and translated them into some paintings and drawings. For instance, he used his wife, barber and neighbor to express their daily activities in a humane and kind way (Anonymous 7). He also used his creativity to come up with a funny portrait that would capture the attention of the viewers. The humorous status of most of his drawings made them unique from the many offered in the market. Funny and unique physic always characterized all his artworks and this has made many people fall in love with his excellent talent. The establishment of Norman’s museum was meant to assure proper retentions of the artifacts which could not only motivate just the current generation but also the future generation. Norman, therefore, used to keep most of his drawings and paintings in the museum and would later be used by the institutions to teach their students how to improve their talents. His museum has since then gained popularity to all the American citizens who love peace and cherish a harmonious coexistence. His active participation in the Saturday Evening Post not only provided him suitable grounds for airing his grievances but also gained him enormous popularity. During his tenure, he greatly contributes to building and improving the American reputation not only among the American citizens but also internationally.
His active participation in the marketing of the most exciting American cities and unique products and services promoted both domestic and international tourism which consequently earns the United States a lot of income. It can therefore be said that Rockwell significantly impacts the growth and development of his country. His artistic works had a high sense of humor which attracts people’s attention. As a painter, Norman was able to establish the fascinating events that usually take place behind the cameras. Norman Rockwell exhibited an excellent art gallery which he compassionately used to describe the positive life of an American citizen. The continued use of the positive attributes aimed at instilling positivism in the American communities and residents (Mendelson.3). He also explored the land’s beauty through his excellent talent in painting. As a competent illustrator, Rockwell excellently improved the skills of the upcoming young illustrators who still looked upon his artwork to grow their personal talents.
He has also greatly participated in motivating the young upcoming artists who have always aspired to be like him career-wise. His meticulous and composed artworks have spoken volumes to the American people and the same message has continued to pass around even after his death in 1978. As a real American who endeavored to spread the positive values of the American people, Norman Rockwell can be considered as one of the American icons. His artworks and designs still continue to pass his intended message even after his death.
Rockwell’s spontaneous drawings related to society and social aspects
As an illustrator, Norman Rockwell emphasized peaceful coexistence between individuals. He, therefore, encouraged individuals and societies to live harmoniously with each other. Of the many artworks that the man did, he tried to emphasize the sense of people living in unison. He even came up with a golden rule which stated that “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (Rockwell para.4). The rule was aimed at propagating a peaceful coexistence between people. The rule was also intended to face out racial discriminations that were high in America during the time. There is also one particular painting that he tried to bring all the diverse beings across the world. The painting, therefore, tried to unify the different races and tribes in the world. Norman hated the social injustices which some of the American people endured just because of their skin color or cultural background. The message from his painting was therefore clear and straight that people ought to appreciate one another regardless of their skin color and language differences. His work also excellently displayed beauty in creation. As a loyalist of the Saturday Evening Post illustrator, Norman really taught people the need to stay focused on their careers. He also emphasized on people not be materialistic but instead follow their inner satisfaction.
Many American magazines tried to win his talent by promising a better pay than the one offered on the Saturday Evening Post, but his loyalty to the post prevented him from being swayed. During his career as a painter, Norman expressed freedom of speech and worship by painting a man airing his grievances out in a town hall. For the worship, he painted people praying. In addition, he expressed the freedom from want by painting the family members joint together around the Thanksgiving table. Freedom from fear was expressed through a painting that showed parents taking special care and treatments to their children. His works have therefore greatly contributed to the growth and development of social rights within which the individuals are governed. As a religious artist, his work appreciated the need to encourage oneness in society. His gallery discouraged the existence of racial schools which differentiated and separated children due to their skin color. He, therefore, painted a mixed color portrait which encouraged uniformity in the learning institutions. His artworks, therefore, were used to mobilize the government effectively and efficiently exhibit civil rights.
Norman advocated for a safe place where children would be brought up without fear of being discriminated against due to their skill color or race (Kilgannon para.6); a place where every human being would have equal opportunities in life. He also advocated that people should have the freedom to choose what they want to become later in their lives. He equally advocated for a bias-free society that acknowledges the efforts and determinations of all people. As a child who could not play football with his brothers, Rockwell acknowledged the presence of different talents. He vividly understood that children might be brought up in similar backgrounds but still possess different skills and tastes altogether. As a successful artist, Norman encouraged young talented individuals to persistently follow their dream career for that it is the only thing in which they can find peace doing. From his personal history, we learn that Norman’s drawing career forced him to drop off from his former high school in order to focus and concentrate well in his lifetime career. Society, therefore, has a lot to learn from the personal life and experiences that Rockwell made in his lifetime. The museum he initiated has continued to act as a perfect remembrance base from which young and future artists can learn more of his work.
Contribution Norman Rockwell made into art that allowed him to remain in the memory of the public domain
Among the major historical ground that Norman left behind is a museum that was named after him. This museum has continued to act as a source of knowledge to the American people and also as a complete legacy to Norman Rockwell. The museum contains a variety of his artworks and paintings which he designed during his lifetime career. The museum not only acts to preserve and maintain the American image but also as a learning ground for the current and future American generation (Anonymous para.14). From it, the new generation can learn to appreciate one another and relate well in public and secluded areas. His active role and participation in the Saturday Evening Post made him popular within the American domain (Millar para.23). His unrelenting loyalty to the post not only encouraged the many American citizens but showed the need to remain focused in life. Norman aimed at efficiently utilizing his personal skills and knowledge to educate and inform people on how society needed to be, a task which he excellently undertook on the post.
His simple to understand paintings makes people admire his work even to date. Conversely, the majority of art designers mostly exploit their talent by having complex drawings which discourage easy understanding. But for Rockwell, most of his paintings are straightforward and illustrated the daily happening in American societies. Rockwell also designed some of the themes that currently continue to be used by the current generations. Themes such as “just married” have continuously been used in the bridal parties refreshing the minds of people towards the original developer. The golden rule which he initiated in the early 1920s has continuously been used by modern human activists, religious leaders and political leaders. One of the Rockwell descendants has also taken over Norman’s talent by exhibiting his drawing potentials. The message which he wanted to pass through the rule is therefore still spread among generations even long after his death. Since Rockwell as an artist majored in the positive values of the American people, a positive attitude has continued to dominate the green and diverse American land. Some of the illustrations which the artist made during his life experiences made articles drastically increase their sales. Among such articles was the boy scouts handbook which sold enormous copies as people admired the drawings for the Boy Scouts ’ scout calendars (Boy Scout of America 14).
The Saturday Evening Post magazine also dominated the market due to its excellent and humorous painting which attracted its customers. Some of the American companies which used him to advertise their product in the US market still retain some of the drawings. Such drawings, therefore, rekindle their memories back to the famous artist legend. His paintings offer a different way through which someone can relay information to the public. The power in the drawings was best presented by the painting he made on the Saturday Evening Post. Most of the art students in America regularly visits Norman Rockwell gallery to learn few tips on how to excellently exploit their drawing career.
Norman has therefore been a force to reckon with in the art and drawing curriculums in learning institutions. For all the American people who regularly read and follow the Saturday Evening Post, life has not been the same since his departure. Most of the covers which were specifically designed by the man in those days still capture the market more than the currently designed ones. This means that there were more to the painting that the magazine readers obtained then and still crave to obtain.
Conclusion
Norman Rockwell’s life was dominated by exorbitant achievements which the current artists envy to possess in order to attain the same level of recognition in their lifetime. His history also assists us to realize some of the benefits that children can have if their talents are discovered at an early stage. This is because such discoveries always have a positive impact on the child’s growth and development. After the talent discovery, we all ought to fully dedicate ourselves to changing the world’s image through what we do. Rockwell used his illustration and painting talent to positively market the image of the American people to the rest of the world. His artworks also advocate the use of positive attributes and values instead of majoring in vices.
Works cited
Anonymous. Photographer Kevin Sprague to speak at Rockwell museum. Bennington, Bennington Banner. 2010. Web.
Anonymous. Life Magazine, Vol. 33, No. 18. NY, Time Inc. 1952. Web.
Boy Scout of America. “Scouting.” Family magazine.1994. Web.
Kilgannon, Corey. A descendant of Rockwell draws a world of street lit. New York, New York Times. 2010. Web.
Mendelson, Andrew. “Slice-of-life Moments as visual ‘truth’: Norman Rockwell, feature photography, and American values in pictorial journalism.” Athens, Winter, Vol.29. 2004. Web.
Millar, Robin. The boy next door: WBR museum showing exhibit of original Norman Rockwell paintings. LA, Baton Rouge. 2009. Web.
Rockwell, Norman. “The golden rule.” gardenofpraise.com. N.d. 2010. Web.