Norman Rockwell: Telling Stories
February 4 – June 5, 2022
“Many illustrators of fiction look through a story to find the most dominant or dramatic incident, and illustrate that. I prefer to discover the atmosphere of a story—the feeling behind it—and then to express this basic quality.”
—Norman Rockwell
Though Norman Rockwell preferred cover work to any other type of assignment, story illustration makes up a large body of the artist’s work. Narrative texts by a wide range of authors, both famous and lesser known, were the basis for thousands of illustrations. His interest in characterization and detail was perfectly suited to story illustration, which enhanced and expanded upon the written word.
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978)
Checkers, 1928
Illustration for “With an Incident of the Circus as Remembered” by Courtney Ryley Cooper, Ladies’ Home Journal, July 1928, p.11
Oil on canvas
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection, Museum purchase, NRM.1976.01
Checkers illustrates a story about a circus clown named Pokey Joe who feels that he is no longer funny. His circus pals decide to lift his spirits and renew his confidence by letting him win a high-stakes game of checkers—the only thing he really cares about.
The subject of circus characters is fertile ground for Rockwell, who enjoyed creating dimensional characters dressed in exotic costumes. The drama and flair of the circus world are expressed through the richness of his colors and in a painterly style found most often in Rockwell’s earlier work of the 1920s and 1930s. It is a true illustration in the sense that it describes the text of a story, adding to our enjoyment and appreciation through its visual richness. Circus life and performers are favored themes in Rockwell’s repertoire. His childhood experience of going to the circus and being around performers at the Metropolitan Opera during his art student days are fondly recalled through these images.
“An illustration is merely a scene from a story,” Rockwell observed. “The characters and setting are fully developed by the author. So the illustrator has only to follow the story closely. His inspiration comes from the words, not, as in a Saturday Evening Post cover, from himself.”
Young people’s adventure stories were an appropriate beginning for Rockwell, whose earliest illustrations appeared in Boys’ Life and other children’s publications when he was just a teenager. Through the 1940s, his art for published stories captivated countless readers of the Post, American Magazine, Ladies’ Home Journal and Woman’s Home Companion.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Rockwell devoted himself more fully to cover illustration and accepted relatively few story assignments. But in the 1960s and 1970s, he created a series of journalistic pictures for Look, departing from his fictional style. Politics, human rights, and man’s journey to the moon would eventually become his subjects, representing a turning point for the artist in an ever-changing world.
Norman Rockwell: Telling Stories gallery from the Museum’s Permanent Collection – on view February 4 – June 5, 2022.
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), Studies for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, The Heritage Press, 1936, Pencil and charcoal on paper, Private Collection
About the Artist
Born in New York City in 1894, Norman Rockwell always wanted to be an artist. At age 14, Rockwell enrolled in art classes at The New York School of Art (formerly The Chase School of Art). Two years later, in 1910, he left high school to study art at The National Academy of Design. He soon transferred to The Art Students League, where he studied with Thomas Fogarty and George Bridgman. Fogarty’s instruction in illustration prepared Rockwell for his first commercial commissions. From Bridgman, Rockwell learned the technical skills on which he relied throughout his long career. Learn more…
IMAGES
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978)
“‘I thought you were wrong,’ he said in triumph.“ 1914
Story illustration for “The Magic Foot-ball: A Fairy Tale of To-day,” by Ralph Henry Barbour, St. Nicholas magazine, December, 1914
Oil on canvas
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection, Norman Rockwell Art Collection Trust, NRACT.1973.076
From 1914 to 1920, Norman Rockwell accepted numerous assignments from St. Nicholas, a magazine for children. His first commission was to provide a series of five illustrations for “The Magic Foot-ball: A Fairy Tale of To-day” by Ralph Henry Barbour. A popular author of the early twentieth century, Barbour (1870–1944) wrote moralizing stories about the relationship between boys and sports, using coaches and athletes to deliver principled messages. “The Magic Foot-ball” told the tale of thirteen-year-old Billy Piper, whose less-than-stellar football skills are abetted by a magical fairy.
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978)
Illustration for “Aunt Ella Takes a Trip” by Marlene Cox, Ladies’ Home Journal, April 1942
Oil on canvas
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection, Museum purchase, NRM.1983.09
This light-filled illustration was inspired by a fiction article about a woman who is determined to buy fabric to make her niece a graduation dress, which her parents cannot afford. Driven to subterfuge by her miserly husband’s disapproval of charity, Aunt Ella discretely drives horse and buggy to town to sell some grain to support the purchase.
Rockwell illustrates Aunt Ella’s return from town with her niece, after which they will hide horse and buggy tracks and wipe down their horse to conceal any evidence of their clandestine trip. This urgency stands in contrast to the serenity of composition and the summer day. It is interesting to note that child film star, Joan Carroll, best known for her roles in Meet Me in St. Louis and The Bells of St. Mary’s, was the model in this piece.
Norman Rockwell (1894–1978)
Mr. Bhaer saw the drops on her cheeks; stopping down, he asked –“Heart’s dearest, why do you cry?” 1938
Story illustration for “The Most Beloved American Writer” by Katherine Anthony, Woman’s Home Companion, March, 1938, p. 21
Oil on canvas
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection, Museum purchase, NRM.1994.03
Story and book illustrations comprised an important aspect of Rockwell’s work in the 1930s. When Woman’s Home Companion commissioned Rockwell to illustrate a biography of Louisa May Alcott, the author of Little Women, Rockwell went to the Alcott home in Concord, Massachusetts to “get the feel of the place.” In this scene from Little Women, Jo, the author’s alter ego, weeps when she hears that her friend Mr. Bhaer plans to leave. Executing this illustration in a painterly manner, Rockwell’s work is reminiscent of rainy Paris street scenes by the Impressionists. He stayed true to the author’s text by portraying Jo in her bonnet, the ribbon neatly tied beneath her chin.
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978)
New Tavern Sign (George III), 1936
Prop sign for The New Tavern sign (Colonial Sign Painter), 1936
Tempera on board
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection by purchase; Thomas Stapleton, Jr., NRM.1988.08
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978)
The New Tavern sign (Colonial Sign Painter), 1936
Illustration for the Saturday Evening Post, February 22, 1936, pp. 18-19
Oil on canvas
Private collection
George III (1738-1820) was the King of Great Britain and Ireland during the American Revolution. Here, Rockwell’s colonial sign painter is intent upon replacing a tavern sign in the King’s name with one honoring George Washington, the nation’s first president. Tavern signs originated from the practical need to identify businesses that provided entertainment and services to travelers—including food, drink, and lodging, as well as the feeding and stabling of horses. Many early sign painters were self-taught, or learned their craft as apprentices. Rockwell engaged a craftsman to build the wooden signs that are featured in this painting, harking back to earlier times.
Norman Rockwell (1894–1978)
Ichabod Crane, ca.1937
Unpublished story illustration
Oil on canvas
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection, Norman Rockwell Art Collection Trust, NRACT.1973.092
In 1936, book publisher George Macy commissioned Norman Rockwell to illustrate new editions of Tom Sawyerand Huckleberry Finn. Eager to repeat Rockwell’s success with additional titles, Macy encouraged Rockwell to explore other subjects for illustrated books. Rockwell began work on a series of pictures of celebrated characters in American fiction, which would be paired with excerpts from the stories. As one of the first in the series, he chose Ichabod Crane, the schoolmaster from the 1819 Washington Irving story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Rockwell painted this first version of Ichabod and then a second, more developed version, which is now in the collection of Utah’s Draper Elementary School.
It is likely that Rockwell’s good friend and New Rochelle model Fred Hildebrandt, who had just posed for the schoolmaster in Tom Sawyer, was the model for Ichabod Crane. Irving described his character as “… tall, but exceedingly lank, with narrow shoulders, long arms and legs, hands that dangled a mile out of his sleeves, feet that might have served for shovels, and his whole frame most loosely hung together. His head was small, and flat at top, with huge ears, large green glassy eyes, and a long snipe nose, so that it looked like a weathercock perched upon his spindle neck to tell which way the wind blew.”
Rockwell’s artistic interpretation departs from a version created ten years earlier by Arthur Rackham, one of his favorite illustrators. Rackham’s spidery pen-and-ink rendering suits the skinny, gawky Crane, whereas Rockwell’s figure is more substantial, making us feel slightly unsettled by the penetrating demeanor of his sideways glance, and fortunate that we are confronted by a painting and not the actual man.
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978)
“Oh, Lord,” Jeff said prayerfully, “I wish Alice was here. Oh, I wish she could hear this.” (The Virtuoso), 1939
Illustration for “Jeff Raleigh’s Piano Solo” by Edmund Ware, The Saturday Evening Post, May 27, 1939
Oil on canvas
Anonymous loan
In this story illustration about a man hoping to purchase an instrument for his wife, dramatic angles in a sea of lids, sheet music, and keys frame the expressive faces of men in a piano store, who are awed by the salesman’s virtuoso performance. Jeff Raleigh is enthralled by “the great Russian pianist Jan Ivan Sabinsky,” who demonstrates the attributes of the instrument with panache.
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978)
“She chanced to hear him making a song all his own,” 1966
Book illustration for Willie Was Different: The Tale of an Ugly Thrushling by Mollie and Norman Rockwell, Funk & Wagnalls, June 1969
Oil on board
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection, Norman Rockwell Art Collection Trust, NRACT.1973.100
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978)
Willie the Thrusher, 1966
Book illustration for Willie Was Different: The Tale of an Ugly Thrushling by Mollie and Norman Rockwell, Funk & Wagnalls, June 1969, title page
Oil on board
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection, Norman Rockwell Art Collection Trust, NRACT.1973.102
Willie Was Different is a children’s story written by Mollie and Norman Rockwell, the artist’s only illustrated picture book. The tale of a wood thrush with a magical gift for music, it addresses the trials of genius and the satisfaction of true friendship. In 1966, Rockwell wrote a story outline about a little bird with a special talent. His wife, Mollie, a retired English teacher, rewrote the text and greatly expanded it.
In 1967, “Willie, the Uncommon Thrush, a Picture Story” appeared in an abridged version in McCall’s magazine with Rockwell’s color illustrations. Willie Was Different, The Tale of an Ugly Thrushling by Norman and Mollie Rockwell was published in book form by Funk & Wagnalls, and intended for adult as well as adolescent readers. Quotes from these earlier versions appear within the mats of the paintings.
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978)
The New Tavern sign (Colonial Sign Painter), 1936
Illustration for the Saturday Evening Post, February 22, 1936, pp. 18-19
Oil on canvas
Private collection
George III (1738-1820) was the King of Great Britain and Ireland during the American Revolution. Here, Rockwell’s colonial sign painter is intent upon replacing a tavern sign in the King’s name with one honoring George Washington, the nation’s first president. Tavern signs originated from the practical need to identify businesses that provided entertainment and services to travelers—including food, drink, and lodging, as well as the feeding and stabling of horses. Many early sign painters were self-taught, or learned their craft as apprentices. Rockwell engaged a craftsman to build the wooden signs that are featured in this painting, harking back to earlier times.
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978)
New Tavern Sign (Washington), 1936
Prop sign for The New Tavern sign (Colonial Sign Painter), 1936
Tempera on board
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection by purchase; Thomas Stapleton, Jr., NRM.1988.09
Norman Rockwell (1894 –1978)
The Recruit, 1966
Color study for illustration for LOOK, September 20, 1966
Oil on celluloid
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection, Norman Rockwell Art Collection Trust, NRACT.1973.123
Norman Rockwell (1894 –1978)
The Recruit, 1966
Illustration for LOOK, September 20, 1966
Oil on canvas
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection, Norman Rockwell Art Collection Trust, NRACT.1973.128
In 1966, Look sports editor Gerald Astor reported on the competition among colleges to recruit student athletes. The specter of recruiting talented high school athletes who might not meet or maintain academic standards emerged in the mid-1960s and the temptation by colleges to lure talent through extravagant inducements was already rumored. To illustrate Astor’s piece, Rockwell chose a football coach, trainer, and student from nearby Williams College in Massachusetts to pose for his painting. He based the football player on Michelangelo’s sculpture of Giuliano de’ Medici, showing his model a photo of the sculpture to help him assume the pose.
Louie Lamone (1918–2007)
Reference photograph for The Recruit, 1966
Illustration for LOOK, September 20, 1966
Inkjet print
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection, Norman Rockwell Art Collection Trust
Louie Lamone (1918–2007)
Norman Rockwell painting The Recruit in his Stockbridge Studio, 1966
Illustration for LOOK, September 20, 1966
Inkjet print
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection, Norman Rockwell Art Collection Trust
Norman Rockwell (1894–1978)
Strictly a Sharpshooter, 1941
Story illustration for “Strictly a Sharpshooter” by D. D. Beauchamp, American Magazine, June 1941, pp.40-41
Oil on canvas
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection, Museum purchase, NRM.1979.02
In his short story, D.D. Beauchamp describes a boxing match between Augie Davis, a seasoned fighter, and Jimmie Kid Parr, his young apprentice. Parr is enamored with a scheming burlesque performer who, unbeknownst to him, is solely interested in his money. Seeking the prize winnings of a championship fight, Parr is unsuccessful in his bout with Augie, much to the dismay of his callous girlfriend.
To realistically capture the mood of the story, Norman Rockwell studied the fighters, spectators, and smoke-filled atmosphere of a New York City boxing ring. Drawing from that experience, and picking up cues from the art of painter George Bellows (1882–1925), Rockwell used smoky gray tones and strong parallel lines to focus attention on the action.
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978)
Norman Rockwell Visits a Family Doctor, 1947
Illustration for “Norman Rockwell Visits a Family Doctor,” Saturday Evening Post, April 12, 1947
Oil on canvas
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection, Museum purchase, NRM.1980.01
For this Post assignment, Rockwell visited his own family physician, Dr. George Russell, in Arlington, Vermont. Family doctors met with their patients in consulting rooms that were often part of their home, and many made personal house calls. Like Dr. Russell, these practitioners were generalists who prescribed medications, stitched and bandaged wounds, set broken bones, delivered babies, and diagnosed ailments like the measles and mumps.
In creating this work, Rockwell painstakingly reproduced Dr. Russell’s office, hiring an architect to do drawings of the room since his cameraman was unable to capture the whole office in one shot. Fans so closely examined Rockwell’s covers that one reader noticed that the photo on Dr. Russell’s desk looked just like a nurse who tended to him in an English Army hospital in 1945. The Post’s editor confirmed that Dr. Russell’s daughter had in fact been a nurse in England at the time. An Arlington family posed with their baby girl, but the dog, Bozo, belonged to Dr. Russell. Some readers questioned the wisdom of having a dog in a doctor’s office, but Rockwell observed that “nobody ever seemed the worse for it.”
(Images from left to right)
Norman Rockwell (1894–1978)
He was a tall, lean man, quiet in his bearing, and with every indication of self-control, as well as of strength, stamped upon his face and form (Daniel Boone, Pioneer Scout), 1914
Story illustration for Scouting With Daniel Boone by Everett T. Tomlinson, Boys’ Life, July 1914
Oil on canvas
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection, Museum purchase, NRM.1989.01
This story illustration appeared in Boys’ Life with the serialized historical novel on the life of the early American pioneer, Daniel Boone. The Boy Scouts had been chartered in the United States just three years before, and founded by an Englishman, the organization eagerly sought to establish connections with the heroes of American history. Set in 1773, Everett T. Tomlinson’s tale traces Boone’s journey leading five families from Yadkin, North Carolina, through the wilderness hunting grounds of the Shawnee Indians to a settlement in Clinch, Virginia. When Rockwell painted this work, he was art director at Boy’s Life magazine. Early in Rockwell’s career, many of his illustrations were painted and published in black and white, which was less costly than full color.
Norman Rockwell (1894–1978)
Tommy appeared at an upstairs window. 1914
Story illustration for The Magic Foot-ball: A Fairy Tale of To-day by Ralph Henry Barbour, St. Nicholas, December 1914
Oil on canvas
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection, Norman Rockwell Art Collection Trust, NRACT.1973.092
In this scene from The Magic Foot-ball, Tommy Blue, the mumps-ridden friend of Billy Piper, waves to the story’s hero before an important football match. The gift of a sharp-witted fairy, a charmed football is stowed under Billy’s arm, which propels itself through the air at his verbal command.
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978)
A smart guy would have thought of something else to do, 1935
Story illustration for “Private Enterprise” by Norman Matson, Woman’s Home Companion, November 1935, p. 8
Oil on canvas
Anonymous lender
RELATED EVENTS
MEDIA
American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell (Remastered)
Published: December 12, 2017
Norman Rockwell on his illustrations for Tom Sawyer, 1961
Published: 1961 by the U.S. Information Services.
The Recruit: A conversation with Norman Rockwell models – Frank Navarro and Dennis Kelly
Published: August 2021
VENUE(S)
Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, MA February 4 – June 5, 2022
Hours
OPEN
Mon 10am-4pm
Tue 10am-4pm
Thu 10am-4pm
Fri 10am-4pm
Sat 10am-5pm
Sun 10am-5pm
Thanksgiving Day
Christmas Day
New Year’s Day
Opens May 1, 2025
Special Holiday Hours: Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve: 10am-2pm.
Admissions
There are limited daily tickets for tours of Norman Rockwell’s Studio. It is recommended you purchase your museum admission and studio tour tickets online in advance of your visit. Museum Visit admission is required for all tours.
| Members | Adult | Seniors / Veterans & Military |
Children | MA Teachers | College Students |
|
| Museum Visit: | Free | $25 | $23 | Free | $22 | $10 |
| Curator Tour: Original Sisters |
$10 | + $20 | + $20 | Free | + $20 | + $20 |
| Guided Tour: Rockwell’s Life & Art (40 minutes) |
Free | +$10 | +$10 | Free | +$10 | +$10 |
There are limited daily tickets for tours of Norman Rockwell’s Studio. It is recommended you purchase your museum admission and studio tour tickets online in advance of your visit. Museum Visit admission is required for all tours.
Museum Visit:
Members, Children, & Active Military: FREE
Adults: $25
Seniors & Retired Military: $23
MA Teachers: $22
College Students: $10
Guided Tour:
Rockwell’s Life & Art
(40 minutes) – additional purchase
Members, Children, & Active Military: FREE
Ticket per person: $10
Curator Tour:
Original Sisters
Members: $10
Children: FREE
Adults: $20
Seniors & Active/Retired Military: $20
College Students: $20
Additional Discount Opportunities:
- Front Line Medical Workers receive free admission.
- AAA member, NARM member, Stockbridge Resident, and EBT/WIC/ConnectorCare Cardholder discounts available.
For Free and Reduced prices, you may be required to present a valid ID demonstrating your status for qualifying for discounted pricing.
DIRECTIONS
Norman Rockwell Museum
9 Glendale Road Route 183
Stockbridge, MA 01262
413-931-2221
Download a Printable version of Driving Directions (acrobat PDF).
Important note: Many GPS and online maps do not accurately place Norman Rockwell Museum*. Please use the directions provided here and this map image for reference. Google Maps & Directions are correct! http://maps.google.com/
* Please help us inform the mapping service companies that incorrectly locate the Museum; let your GPS or online provider know and/or advise our Visitor Services office which source provided faulty directions.
Route 7 runs north to south through the Berkshires. Follow Route 7 South to Stockbridge. Turn right onto Route 102 West and follow through Main Street Stockbridge. Shortly after going through town, you will veer to the right to stay on Route 102 West for approximately 1.8 miles. At the flashing light, make a left onto Route 183 South and the Museum entrance is 0.6 miles down on the left.
Route 7 runs north to south through the Berkshires. Follow Route 7 North into Stockbridge. Turn left onto Route 102 West at the stop sign next to The Red Lion Inn. Shortly after you make the left turn, you will veer to the right to stay on Route 102 West for approximately 1.8 miles. At the flashing light, make a left onto Route 183 South and the Museum entrance is 0.6 miles down on the left.
Boston (two-and-a-half hours) or Springfield (one hour):
Take the Ma ssachusetts Turnpike (I-90) West, getting off at exit 10 (formerly exit 2) – Lee. At the light at the end of the ramp turn left onto Route 20 East and then immediately turn right onto Route 102 West. Follow Route 102 West into Stockbridge Center (about five miles). Continue going west on Route 102 (Main St.). Shortly after going through town, you will veer to the right to stay on Route 102 West for approximately 1.8 miles. At the flashing light, make a left onto Route 183 South and the Museum entrance is 0.6 miles down on the left.
from Albany and west: (one hour) Take I-90 east to exit B3 – Route 22. Go south on New York Route 22 to Massachusetts Route 102 East. Stay on Route 102 East through West Stockbridge. Continue on Route 102 East approximately 5.5 miles until you come to a blinking light at the intersection of Route 183. Make a right at the blinking light onto Route 183 South and the Museum entrance is 0.6 miles down on the left.
(two-and-a-half hours) Take either the New York State Thruway or the Taconic State Parkway to I-90 East. Follow I-90 East to exit B3 – Route 22. Go south on New York Route 22 to Massachusetts Route 102 East. Stay on Route 102 East through West Stockbridge. Continue on Route 102 East approximately 5.5 miles until you come to a blinking light at the intersection of Route 183. Make a right at the blinking light onto Route 183 South and the Museum entrance is 0.6 miles down on the left.
(one-and-a-half hours) Take I-91 North to the Massachusetts Turnpike. Take the Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90) West, getting off at exit 10 (formerly exit 2) – Lee. At the light at the end of the ramp turn left onto Route 20 East and then immediately turn right onto Route 102 West. Follow Route 102 West into Stockbridge Center (about five miles). Continue going west on Route 102 (Main St.). Shortly after going through town, you will veer to the right to stay on Route 102 West for approximately 1.8 miles. At the flashing light, make a left onto Route 183 South and the Museum entrance is 0.6 miles down on the left.
(five minutes)
Go west on Route 102 (Main St.). Shortly after going through town, you will veer to the right to stay on Route 102 West for approximately 1.8 miles. At the flashing light, make a left onto Route 183 South and the Museum entrance is 0.6 miles down on the left.
