Norman Rockwell: An American Icon

Norman Rockwell was born on February 3, 1894 in New York City. From the time he was a young kid, Norman knew that he wanted to be an artist. He was very non-athletic, skinny, and clumsy as a boy. Rockwell left high school early to study art full time at the National Academy of Design before he enrolled in the Art Students League in New York City. When Rockwell was just eighteen he beg

As Norman Rockwell grew older his work did not change drastically. He was still painting his usual humorous depictions of American life, as well as sending a message through pressing issues of the time. John Sergeant and Chief Konkapot painted in 1972 was one the last of his career which showed a peace agreement between an Indian chief and an American. Later on in Rockwell’s career he painted about things that were not happing to America at the time, but were some of the issues that America was faced with long ago. Another painting that celebrated America’s past was Liberty Bell, which celebrated America’s independence.

Calling Norman Rockwell a civil rights activist would be an understatement; throughout his 84 year career, he impacted America in such a way that he could never be imitated. The positive aura that his paintings create helps our country look at serious matters with a better attitude. I feel that Norman Rockwell’s artwork is something that I can look and that looks at me. It invites me in with its humor and positive feel, and tells me a story that I will never forget. I have never seen racism and civil rights issues portrayed in such a clever manor as Rockwell’s pictures. He is one of America’s greatest icons and an artist that our country is very proud of. Norman Rockwell was dedicated to his work and his life like no other in history and should be honored and treasured forever.

Sending positive messages was something that Norman Rockwell was very fond of and also very good at. The period from the mid-fifties through the late sixties was one of Rockwell’s greatest achievement and advancement in terms of making an optimistic statement. “In his pictures depicting civil rights issues, Rockwell often focused on children and their role in the struggle” (Rockwell Retrospective 109). The Problem We All Live With is one of Rockwell’s most famous illustrations concerning civil rights; it embod

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