Norman Rockwell

Norman Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was a 20th-century American painter and illustrator. You may be familiar with his works, though not by name, as he's a very prolific American painter and many of his work have been used in war posters, and was the illustrator of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. His "Four Seasons" illustrations for Brown & Bigelow that were published for 17 years beginning in 1947 and reproduced in various styles and sizes since 1964.

Four Freedoms 1947

Many of his works appear overly sweet in modern critics' eyes, which tend toward idealistic or sentimentalized portrayals of American life— this has led to the often-deprecatory adjective "Rockwellesque." One of his more serious work is The Problem We All Live With, which dealt with the issue of school racial integration. The painting depicts a young African American girl, Ruby Bridges, flanked by white federal marshals, walking to school past a wall defaced by racist graffiti. Rockwell worked from photographs, as you can see in the case of the little girl.


Rosie the Riveter 1943

The problem we all live with (1894–1978)