Reference photos for Norman Rockwell’s The Gossips, 1948. Photos by Gene Pelham. Photo montage created by Ron Schick. Licensed by Norman Rockwell Licensing, Niles, IL. From the permanent collection of Norman Rockwell Museum.

Currently on View

Delightful excerpts from the Museum’s landmark exhibition first shown in Stockbridge in 2009, are now on view after touring the nation. Shedding new light on Norman Rockwell’s art and artistry—Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera is the first exhibition to explore Rockwell’s richly detailed study photographs, created by the artist as references for his iconic paintings. Originally organized with author and guest curator Ron Schick, whose companion book of the same name, the exhibition (and publication) reveals a rarely seen yet fundamental aspect of Rockwell’s creative process, and unveils significant new Rockwell imagery in an unexpected medium.

“Norman Rockwell was a natural storyteller with an unerring eye for detail,” says Stephanie Haboush Plunkett, Deputy Director and Chief Curator of Norman Rockwell Museum. “This ground-breaking exhibition revealed how that narrative instinct found its first expression in the artist’s meticulously composed photographs.”

Reference photos for Norman Rockwell’s The Marriage License, 1955. Photos by Louie Lamone. Licensed by Norman Rockwell Licensing, Niles, IL. From the permanent collection of Norman Rockwell Museum.

Highlights from Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera brings together prints of Rockwell’s study photographs and original paintings and drawings linked to the photographs on display. The result is a fascinating frame-by-frame view of the development of some of Rockwell’s most indelible images. At the same time, the photographs themselves—painstakingly staged by Rockwell and involving an array of models, costumes, props, and settings—are fully realized works of art in their own right.

Purchase the catalogue Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera book here