NORMAN ROCKWELL PICTURES FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

Accompanying the first major traveling exhibition of works by Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), this volume presents a complete reappraisal of one of America's most beloved artists. Contributors from a wide range of fields-including leading art historians, cultural critics, a renowned child psychiatrist, and a leading graphic designer-shed new light on the complexity of Rockwell's art and his place as a shaper of mass-media imagery. Stunning colorplates reproduce Rockwell's paintings in crisp detail, and the essays set them in fresh contexts, discussing such themes as Rockwell's urban scenes; the reaction by both black and white Southerners to Rockwell's historic civil rights painting The Problem We All Live With; and Rockwell's role in the development of American illustration. Above all, this important volume examines Norman Rockwell's critical place in 20th-century American culture.

YA-This collection of essays forms the catalog of the exhibition of Rockwell's work traveling to seven U.S. cities. It explores the artist's goals, achievements, and legacy as well as his role and stature in American art. Some essays effuse praise, some give anecdotal yet enlightening information about Rockwell's subjects, and some offer in-depth, scholarly analyses of his works. Because the book presents writings by a variety of curators and critics, information is repeated and often opinions are flatly contradicted. The variety of interpretations of Rockwell's style and work shows a complexity in a collection often viewed as simple and sentimental. Even so, the book's true strength lies in the 133 full-color plates and illustrations that document Rockwell's progress as illustrator, painter, and storyteller. A delight for casual observers and students of art and art history.
Vivien Jewell, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Excellent writing is the hallmark of this catalog of an upcoming exhibit, traveling throughout the country for the next several years. Fourteen essays by art historians and academics address broad themes, specific issues (such as school desegregation), and the critical fortunes of Rockwell's work--without preconceptions or prejudgments. Like Rockwell's art itself, the catalog is clearly organized and accessible, and like his art, the essays are thoughtful and repay close reading. Although brief, these essays are also of uniformly high quality. Icon that he was, it is now possible to look at Rockwell's work in historical context; this book, edited by two museum curators, succeeds thoroughly in this regard. An outstanding companion to Norman Rockwell: 332 Magazine Covers, which reproduced all of his Saturday Evening Post covers, this is highly recommended for general and art historical collections.
-Jack Perry Brown, Art Inst. of Chicago Lib.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Even if you think there are already enough Norman Rockwell books, by all means look at this accompaniment to a major touring exhibition of Rockwell's art--incredibly enough, the first--that travels for two years from Atlanta to Chicago, Washington, San Diego, Phoenix, back to the artworks' home in the Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Connecticut, and then to the Guggenheim in New York. Not only are plenty of the paintings nicely reproduced, but 14 essays (one by Rockwell's sculptor son, Peter) discuss the artist, his appeal and influence, and particular paintings, such as, especially well, The Connoisseur, in which a businessman looks at a very passable imitation Jackson Pollock abstraction. The aura of the whole project is not trendily "retro" but respectful and attentive to the issues of popular as opposed to critically approved art. Ray Olson