Anita Kunz has made a career of drawing famous people: presidents and other world leaders for the covers of the New Yorker, Variety and Time…, and rap and rock stars for Rolling Stone. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. For the past four years, however, she’s focused less on portraying VIPs and more on depicting subjects and stories unfamiliar to many or even most of us.
Stockbridge — Portraits of historically famous women, as well as some less well known, are all part of the exhibit “Original Sisters: Portraits of Tenacity and Courage” on display at the Norman Rockwell Museum. The exhibit opened earlier this month and will be on display until May 26. Toronto native Anita Kunz created these portraits during lockdown amidst the COVID pandemic.
Kunz has long deserved the distinction of leader and master as a conceptual (satiric and editorial) artist/illustrator. With this latest exhibition and the book on which it is based, she has become elevated into a higher realm of both intellectual and expressive power. Visiting the Norman Rockwell Museum’s galleries, seeing the precise rows of over 200 of her forgotten “Original Sisters,” one will doubtless be rendered speechless by the beauty, gravity, intelligence and passion in each of these works.
Norman Rockwell Museum is the first American museum, and just the third venue worldwide, to present original portraits from Kunz’s Original Sister series. Approximately 240 Sister portraits will be on view at the Museum, accompanied by brief written profiles compiled by the artist.
Stockbridge, MA – October 28, 2024 – Norman Rockwell Museum served as a fitting backdrop for a naturalization ceremony held in the Museum’s galleries. In a standing-room-only event, 28 individuals from 20 different countries, including Bhutan, Brazil, El Salvador, Haiti, Iraq, Liberia, Russia, Ukraine, and other nations, took the solemn Oath of Allegiance, officially becoming citizens of the United States.
STOCKBRIDGE — As the 2024 election season enters its final moments, you can inspire friends, family, neighbors and strangers to cast a ballot with one of six digital get-the-vote-out campaign posters courtesy of The Unity Project 2024.
History pop quiz: Can you name the leader of the largest pirate fleet in history? Who was the first person to fly solo, non-stop, from England to North America, a more difficult trip than Charles Lindbergh’s eastbound flight? What about the youngest playwright to win a New York Drama Critics’ Circle award, or the author of the first English language autobiography? The feats themselves may be entirely unknown to you, and the commonality between each may surprise you: All of these individuals were women. No, it isn’t Women’s History Month. Not yet...
Toronto-based Anita Kunz has employed a distinct contemporary classical style of painting to create some caustic caricature and satire of the late 20th and 21st centuries (though to see her, you wouldn’t know she’s been working as long as she has). Her assignments as an editorial illustrator, however, like many of her generation, have not been consistent. So, she’s turned inward and outward to find inspiration for current projects.
Stockbridge, MA – October 10, 2024 – Norman Rockwell Museum (NRM) is pleased to announce several key appointments to its staff and Board of Directors, enhancing the Museum’s commitment to illuminating the power of American illustration art. "We are thrilled to welcome these talented and arts-forward individuals to our Board and team," said Director/CEO Laurie Norton Moffatt. "Their diverse backgrounds and their innate passion for bringing together art narratives and creative equity will advance and enhance our mission." Board Members Katherine Bergeron and Randy Grimmett, and staff members Russell Lord, Cody Baffuto, and Riley Andersen join a vibrant community dedicated to preserving the original art of America’s best-loved artist and serve as caretakers of a unique cultural legacy.
Nestled the rolling hills of rural Massachusetts, swathed by manicured grounds, sits the Norman Rockwell Museum. And there, side-by-side with the wholesome works of America's most beloved illustrator, is the world's dumbest cover boy: Alfred E. Neuman. "It's sacrilegious! It's an outrage!" laughed political cartoonist Steve Brodner. "But I do think if Norman Rockwell were here, he'd laugh his head off. He'd think this was fantastic." These hallowed halls are now home to the world's largest exhibit of artwork from Mad Magazine, co-curated by Brodner. "I was formed by Mad," he said. "My idea of comedy, humor, irreverent drawing comes from this."
“Every country used poster art historically to motivate engagement in one way or another,” says Laurie Norton-Moffat, CEO/executive director of the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. As get-out-the-vote activity is reaching fever pitch, the Norman Rockwell Museum has launched the Unity Project 2024, a digital campaign using the power of illustration to foster civic engagement and participation through art.
STOCKBRIDGE, MA – September 17 – In March 1976, a great American portrait debuted to an adoring public. It was a bicentennial appreciation of George Washington … of a sort. Inspired by The Athenaeum Portrait, Gilbert Stuart’s 1796 painting featured on the one-dollar bill, this rendering of the first president featured one distinction. The original showed Washington with swollen, tightly closed lips due to a new set of ill- fitting dentures, while the 1976 version had a gap-toothed smirk instantly recognizable to America’s middle school reprobates. Equally recognizable was the blank stare that those same kids knew evoked the iconic question: “What, Me Worry?”
STOCKBRIDGE, MA — September 5, 2024– Norman Rockwell has a cherished place in the American imagination. So does MAD magazine. That Rockwell and MAD are as different as a Windsor chair and a whoopee cushion makes their unexpected interaction all the more fun. That interaction takes the form of “What, Me Worry? The Art and Humor of MAD Magazine,” which runs at the Norman Rockwell Museum through Oct. 27. Five ebulliently overstuffed galleries offer MAD layouts, drawings, toys, videos, back issues, board games, copies of foreign editions. It’s a horn of plenty of laughs. “What Me, Worry” is the (very) rare museum show in which visitors’ laughter is audible.
July 9, 2024—Norman Rockwell’s Freedom of Speech has taken on a new life online, as explored in a recent article in the New York Times.
“Across social media, his work ‘Freedom of Speech’ appears alongside all manner of strong opinions, from the highly serious to the absurd to the esoteric, enshrining itself into the lingua franca of the internet decades after its creator’s death,” the article notes. The painting began to show up in posts on Twitter/X in 2020.
Stockbridge, MA – June 25, 2024– MAD Magazine Finally Gets the Curtain Call it Deserves. Growing up, the Usual Gang of Idiots were the demigods in my comedic Pantheon; The show at the Norman Rockwell Museum is a perfectly curated collection of seven decades of their misdeeds.
Stockbridge– June 20, 2024– It’s an election year, so perennial presidential candidate and MAD magazine cover boy, Alfred E. Neuman, has once again thrown his hat in the proverbial ring. The imp-faced redhead has been a “write-in candidate” every presidential election since 1956, when he rst graced the satirical magazine’s cover with his trademark slogan, “What, Me Worry?” His headquarters of choice this election season? You’ll find him amongst some 250 original illustrations and cartoons, alongside magazine covers and ephemera that make up the exhibition, “What, Me Worry? The Art and Humor of MAD Magazine,” on view at the Norman Rockwell Museum through Oct. 27.
Stockbridge, MA—May 6, 2024—Berkshire Eagle art critic Jennifer Huberdeau recently reviewed Mystery and Wonder: Highlights from the Permanent Collection. The article delves into the story and backstory of individual artworks to offer readers a personal “tour” of this intriguing exhibition. The piece brings into focus the subtle, layered, and richly atmospheric world of these illustrations, evoking the theme of “mystery and wonder.” The exhibition is up at Norman Rockwell Museum through June 16.
Norman Rockwell Museum has added two highly experienced museum professionals to its curatorial team. Seth Fogelman, formerly the Senior Exhibitions Manager and Registrar at the Whitney Museum of American Art, joins the Museum as Chief of Curatorial Affairs. Jane Dini, PhD, most recently the Andrew W. Mellon Senior Curator, American Art, at the Brooklyn Museum, assumes the role of Curator of Exhibitions.
In Walnut Creek, Calif., a young mother walks into the library and finds a refuge. Yuyi Morales came with her young son Kelly from Mexico to the Bay Area, where his father’s family lived.
“Migrantes, you and I,” she writes in her award-winning book, “Dreamers.” “The sky and the land welcomed us in words unlike those of our ancestors.”
In the illustration she holds her young son, and the […]
In Memorium;
Marion Simon, Trustee
Anyone who met Marion Simon knew immediately two things: she lived her life to the fullest and spent most of her time and resources doing good in the world. (Left to right: NRM Board Members: Marion Simon, Robert Horvath, and David Klausmeyer. Photo by Rebecca Barrow.)
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), “Golden Rule,” 1961. Norman Rockwell Museum Collections. […]
Woodstock to the Moon: 1969 Illustrated Opens June 8, 2019 Exhibition explores how illustrators portrayed the changing times at the end of the 1960's while commemorating the year of the Museum’s founding
American illustration is an exciting and popular field with tremendous cultural significance, yet paradoxically, one with an image problem. “Illustration,” defined broadly, lacks the centrality and heuristic coherence that the related field of fine art painting has. Partly because of this fact, the endeavor has had difficulty acquiring legitimacy.
Featured weekly in this month, a series of blog posts by Rockwell Center Society of Fellows scholars offer insights into illustration from vantage points meaningful within the diverse scope of their academic interests.
Rockwell Society of Fellows, left to right: Laurie Norton Moffatt, Director/CEO; Michele Bogart; Erika Doss; Christopher Lukasik; D.B. Dowd
Making Meaning of […]
Forbes Magazine has recently highlighted the work that Norman Rockwell Museum is doing to promote neurodiversity. Often defined as the idea that neurological differences such as autism and ADHD are to be recognized and respected as normal human variation, the article looks at the Museum's partnership with the College Internship Program.
Our current exhibition Keepers of the Flame: Parrish, Wyeth, Rockwell and the Narrative Tradition continues to attract praise from both visitors and the media. This week USA Today included the show in their list of "the best American museum exhibits this fall."
Norman Rockwell Museum was proud to once again partner with the Berkshire Immigrant Center and host our seventh annual United States Citizenship Naturalization Ceremony at the Museum on August 10, 2018. 23 men and women, originally from 16 countries, took the oath and were sworn in against the welcoming backdrop of Norman Rockwell's artwork.
The Berkshire Eagle recently included Norman Rockwell Museum in a feature about accessibility initiatives here in the Berkshire County. Specifically, the article highlights our work with Riverbrook Residence for women with disabilities.
This summer Norman Rockwell Museum has been proud to take part in #DanceForTheArts, a unique collaboration between cultural organizations here in the Berkshires. On Thursday, August 31, the collaborative will conclude with a final Summer Wrap Party from 7 to 10 p.m. at The Barn at The Egremont Village. Proceeds will benefit Mass Creative, a state-wide advocacy organization that supports the efforts of our creative sector.
At a press briefing held Wednesday, March 29, at New York City's historic Roosevelt House, Norman Rockwell Museum announced details of the first internationally touring exhibition devoted to Rockwell’s iconic depictions of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms.
Happy New Year! Norman Rockwell Museum has been receiving some great press lately, and we thought we'd take a moment to share it with you.
In recognition of this significant presidential election year in the United States, Norman Rockwell Museum has partnered with Google to share artworks and artifacts from its permanent collection that illustrate Norman Rockwell’s many commissioned presidential portraits. "Norman Rockwell: Presidential Elections Illustrated" presents Rockwell’s paintings, rarely seen studies, reference photos, and correspondence relating to presidential campaigns during the 1950s and 1960s.
Thanks to everyone who joined us for the opening of our new exhibition, "Mac Conner: A New York Life." In addition to many stylish Mad Men (and Women), it was an honor to welcome Mac Conner himself. The 103-year-old artist seemed to have a grand time, and took time to meet with our many members and friends in attendance. In his words, "Norman Rockwell was a great inspiration for me."
Last Thursday, February 25, representatives from Norman Rockwell Museum joined students from Edward A. Reynolds West Side High School at New York’s City Hall for a special ceremony recognizing their efforts to rename the street where Norman Rockwell grew up, in the artist’s honor. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio signed legislation into law to co-name 39 new and amend 3 previously co-named thoroughfares and public spaces, including “Norman Rockwell Place.”
Today seems like a perfect day to honor two modern visual storytellers, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, who happened to cite Norman Rockwell as an important influence. Happy Birthday to Mr. Spielberg, Norman Rockwell Museum Trustee Emeritus, who turns 69 today. The filmmaker has shown his love of Norman Rockwell's work by going so far as recreating the artist's Freedom From Fear for his 1987 film, Empire of the Sun. Last month, he followed in Rockwell's footsteps by receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. His latest film, Bridge of Spies opened in October to rave reviews.
Our acclaimed exhibition, "We The Peoples: Norman Rockwell’s United Nations" officially closed on September 15, yet the United Nations Headquarters in New York continues to experience unique “Norman Rockwell” moments. This past Friday, September 25, the United Nations welcomed His Holiness Pope Francis, during his first-ever visit to the United States. Prior to addressing the UN’s General Assembly, Pope Francis took time out to admire Norman Rockwell’s Golden Rule, which remains on temporary loan to the UN from the Museum’s collection. Rockwell’s painting, in fact, served as the perfect backdrop for the pontiff’s visit, where he had referenced the concept of “the golden rule” during his historic address to Congress just the day before. Pope Francis can be seen signing the UN’s guestbook in the same room where Rockwell’s welcoming artwork is currently displayed.
NEW YORK (AP) — Latest developments in Pope Francis’ visit to the United States. All times local:
8:55 a.m.
Pope Francis has signed U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s visitors’ book as he visits the world body’s headquarters.
The pontiff took a white card from his pocket and copied a lengthy message into the thick, bound book in the secretary-general’s conference room.
The secretary-general also showed the […]
A special reception was held at the United Nations Headquarters on the evening of Monday, June 30, to celebrate the opening of "We The Peoples: Norman Rockwell's United Nations." The exhibition, organized by Norman Rockwell Museum, is on view at the UN's New York City Visitor Centre, to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the peacekeeping organization. Speaking during the evening's opening remarks, United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon said that, "We are so honored to now host the original Golden Rule as well as the United Nations drawing for the entire summer of our 70th anniversary year."
On August 15, Norman Rockwell Museum officially launched a new, comprehensive, online resource dedicated to the illustration arts. IllustrationHistory.org will serve as an evolving site, provide greater access to information about the field in which Norman Rockwell played a seminal role.
Illustration History is possible, in part, by a generous grant from The National Endowment for the Arts’ ART WORKS program, and an anonymous donor in […]
We The Peoples: Norman Rockwell’s United Nations
With war raging around the globe, in 1941 when Norman Rockwell responded to the United States government’s call to artists to depict President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Four Freedom ideals, he turned to the subject matter he knew best: ordinary people. The resulting images became some of the most […]
Norman Rockwell Museum will be holding a press conference about its new exhibition, "We The Peoples: Norman Rockwell's United Nations" this Monday, June 29, starting at 11:30 a.m. ET. The press conference will be streamed, and those interested can tune into the conference and evening remarks via the UN's website. The press conference, held at the UN Headquarters in New York City, is expected to include remarks from Deputy Secretary-General, Jan Eliasson, who was instrumental in the planning of this unique exhibition commemorating the 70th anniversary of the UN.
Students from NYC’s Edward A. Reynolds High School learn more about Norman Rockwell during a recent visit to Norman Rockwell Museum on May 28, 2015. Photo ©Norman Rockwell Museum. All rights reserved.
Our educational outreach continues at Norman Rockwell Museum.
This past May, Norman Rockwell Museum welcomed back students from New York City’s Edward A. Reynolds West Side High […]
Photo of Mary Doyle Keefe (the model for Norman Rockwell’s “Rosie the Riveter”) visiting Norman Rockwell Museum, August 2012. Photo by Jeremy Clowe for Norman Rockwell Museum. All rights reserved.
Norman Rockwell Museum is saddened to learn of the passing of Mary Doyle Keefe, the original model for Norman Rockwell’s iconic “Rosie The Riveter” painting, at age 92.
Ms. Keefe was a […]
Norman Rockwell Museum is saddened to learn of the passing of our friend Walt Reed (1917-2015). An artist, author, and art historian, Reed had a lifelong commitment to scholarship relating to the art of illustration. In June 2012, the Museum awarded the Illustration House founder with its first Distiguished Scholar Award in recognition of his many achievements.
Congratulations to "New Yorker" cartoonist Roz Chast, whose recent memoir has won “Best Autobiography” from the National Book Critics Circle. Members of our staff met up with Chast at her home in Connecticut last week, to prepare for our upcoming exhibition of the artist’s work, which will be on view at Norman Rockwell Museum from June 6 through October 26, 2015. We had a fun, behind-the-scenes tour, and also conducted a videotaped interview with Chast about her life and career. Make your reservations now to attend our gala exhibition opening on Saturday, June 6, and meet this talented cartoonist, whose work has kept us smiling for years.
This past week Norman Rockwell Museum announced the recent acquisition of Norman Rockwell’s 1926 painting, "Boy and Girl Gazing at Moon (Puppy Love)" with a public unveiling of the original work on February 13, in the Museum's galleries.
Illustration art has certainly been in the news lately. In addition to stories about the upcoming George Lucas narrative art museum and ongoing interest in Norman Rockwell's work, this week Daniel Grant of The Huffington Post asks the question, "Everyone Loves Illustration Art, But Where Does One See It?"
We had baseball on the mind after a visit last week from Norman Rockwell's original "Rookie," model Sherm Safford. The subject of Rockwell's 1957 painting joined us to take part in the filming of a segment for CBS Evening News, to be broadcast around the occasion of Christie's auction of the original painting on May 22, 2014. Read all about the filming in last week's Berkshire Eagle, and tune into the segment, scheduled to air the evening of Thursday, May 22.
Recently announced, our major gift from the Famous Artists School has been garnering quite a bit of press lately. This Sunday's New York Times reported on the substantial art and archives donation, made possible by Robert and Magdalen Livesey of Cortina Learning International, which still runs a version of the popular art correspondence course to this day.
This week the United Nations rededicated a large mosaic of Norman Rockwell's "Golden Rule," which hangs in their New York City Headquarters. Read more about the development on Norman Rockwell's iconic 1961 painting, which is part of the permanent collection of Norman Rockwell Museum.
The news is in: Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs: The Creation of a Classic is a hit. Here is a sampling of some of the recent press regarding our new exhibition.
Visitors stopping by Norman Rockwell Museum to see this year's Berkshire County High School Art Show will view over one hundred outstanding works, created in a variety of different medium. One of the highlights is a painted self-portrait that was, in fact, created by one of the Museum's newest interns.
This past Sunday, February 3, 2013, was Norman Rockwell's 119th birthday, and both press and public reminded us how relevant the artist's work continues to be.
Norman Rockwell Museum and the Berkshire Immigration Center welcomed 23 new United States citizens on September 8, 2012, during a naturalization ceremony held in the Museum’s galleries. The Berkshire County residents from 16 different countries were sworn in as citizens in front of Norman Rockwell’s iconic "Four Freedoms" paintings.
Acclaimed Illustrator and Norman Rockwell Museum Artist Laureate David Macaulay has created the cover for this week's "New Yorker." Known for his many architectural books and helping us to learn "the way things work," Macaulay tackles the timely issue of the United States Postal Service and its uncertain future. The artist will receive the Artist Laureate award during a special awards ceremony to be held at the Museum on Saturday, September 24, 2011, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.
This year Norman Rockwell Museum's Deputy Director/Chief Curator Stephanie Plunkett was interviewed by "Print" magazine regarding the Museum's past, present and future. Her thoughts appear in the August issue of the time-honored publication (on sale now).
February 2011 Roll magazine interview with Elwood H. Smith: In the field of illustration this guy is a rock star, with his work featured regularly in Time, Newsweek, Forbes, New York Magazine... His signature style has enhanced the advertising campaigns of Sony, GE Cellular One, Blue Shield/BlueCross of Texas, Pizza Hut... as well as numerous children’s books. He’s even played guitar, written songs, and made records with local guitar hero John Platania (Van Morrison). But you can be forgiven if you’ve not heard of Elwood H. Smith. More often than not great illustrators don’t quite get the publicity that great cartoonists and comic artists do. And those folks don’t get a heck of a lot as it is...
After a decade of planning, scanning and digitizing, The Norman Rockwell Museum is launching ProjectNORMAN -- the preservation, archiving and creation of a digital catalogue of Rockwell's work -- today for public use. Now researchers, students and art enthusiasts alike will have online access to the museum's art and archival collection with the click of a mouse.
The Caldecott-winning illustrator shared the secret of his inspirations with nearly 40 art students from Lenox Middle School on Wednesday at the Norman Rockwell Museum. The museum is showing a retrospective of his work and later that afternoon held a party to mark the Philadelphia native's 71st birthday.
America’s most beloved illustrator, Norman Rockwell, is as synonymous with the holidays as Santa Claus himself. Not only did he create dozens of illustrations of the jolly ol’ elf in the red suit, Rockwell is known for depicting endless scenes that capture the essence of American holiday traditions from Thanksgiving to Christmas to New Year’s, including his classic “Stockbridge Main Street at Christmas.”
Listen to WAMC Northeast Public Radio's exclusive story on Norman Rockwell Museum's recent art acquisitions, and ongoing collections efforts...
Csatari never imagined he would work with Rockwell. But he did for eight years, before taking over Rockwell’s position as the official artist of the Boy Scouts of America after Rockwell retired in 1976.
This article ran on October 10th in The Wall Street Journal.
To read the complete article, please follow this link.
Norman Rockwell’s inspiring and enduring painting
By BRUCE COLE
A hundred thousand people came to see them in Washington and New York, a million more in other major cities across the […]
On news-stands now, the November issue of Vanity Fair features Norman Rockwell
Monday, Sept. 28
STOCKBRIDGE — “She has a beautiful sense of line,” went the compliment, which is not your average, everyday compliment.
But Barbara Nessim is not your average, everyday artist. Nessim’s work has been shown in galleries from SoHo to Tokyo, and her illustrations have graced the covers of Rolling Stone, Time and The New York Times Magazine.
Nessim, a native New Yorker, is now making a big impression in the Berkshires, where she has […]
Norman Rockwell Museum’s 40th anniversary:
WAMC Northeast Public Radio live broadcast from Norman Rockwell Museum July 9, 2009
July 20, 2009. Listen.