- A Rockwell Portrait - An Intimate BiographyBy Donald Walton
- Norman Rockwell - A LifeBy Laura Claridge
- Norman Rockwell, Artist and IllustratorBy Thomas S. Buechner
- Norman Rockwell: IllustratorBy Arthur Guptill
- American Mirror: The Life and Times of Norman RockwellBy Deborah Solomon
- Norman Rockwell's World of ScoutingBy William Hillcourt
Important Art by Norman Rockwell
Boy With Baby Carriage (1916)
Boy With Baby Carriage was Rockwell's first Post cover. Typical of his earlier montage paintings, this humorous boyhood coming-of-age theme is a fine example of his skill at capturing the gentle travails of human experience. The three figures and wicker carriage are positioned against a blank background so as to direct most of our attention onto the human figures in the composition. In this respect, the main "action" in the painting is created by the facial expressions of the boys. Rockwell created a simple, stark image relying on black, white and grey with touches of red to bring our attention to the boys' faces. It was his attention to details like this, and simple, but felt empathy with his subjects that so endeared Rockwell to the American public. Other illustrators of Norman Rockwell's time period, including Robert Gunn, Robert Tannenbaum and Leslie Thrasher, tried to imitate his style but failed to capture the essence of their characters or to emulate Rockwell's sixth sense for time and place.
Magazine editors were quick to recognize the human touch in Rockwell's exceptional compositions. The Post's art editor Kenneth Stuart, commented for instance that "No guide is needed for Norman's work" since the "warmth of his understanding reaches [the] People [who] experience his paintings." Stephanie Plunkett, chief curator at the Norman Rockwell Museum, backed that view when she said that for Americans Rockwell presented a picture of "who we are, what we could be, what we could look like [and] what our values could be."
A Red Cross Man in the Making (1918)
The Red Cross Red Crescent Magazine, the official magazine for a movement of the same name, is published by international groups in Geneva and Switzerland, and is written in six languages. The organization is humanitarian and dedicated to protecting the lives and dignity of victims of armed conflict. This painting was originally painted for the magazine to exemplify the good will of a Red Cross man, seen here in the guise of a scout attending to a small dog that has suffered an injury. It was also chosen to be used as Rockwell's first calendar cover for the Boy Scouts of America. Rockwell, always a keen observer of his world and its issues, captured the realities of individual lives as well as the mores held dear by society. In many of his paintings, he promotes personal responsibility, patriotism, heroism, gender equity and/or racial integration which he saw as the foundations of the American way.
In A Good Scout, Rockwell used a series of diagonal lines and a dramatic plan of light and dark to pull the viewer's attention to the small, forlorn dog resting on a red pillow in the center of the composition. The larger dog and the young man are also posed in angled positions to complete the grouping while the dark areas surrounding the figures keep our attention on the animals and the boy's helping hands are placed in the very center of the composition. The use of softly glowing areas which seem to disappear into the darkness is not unlike the technique of Rembrandt, an artist whom Rockwell admired greatly. The old dented pot filled with water, the scissors and a small glass bottle in the foreground introduce us to the event in the middle ground while the strong red shapes in the background, perhaps a wood or coal stove, seem to glow with warmth. Great attention was also given to the scout's uniform with the textured and banded hat, kerchief, his belt with key ring and study shoes with precisely detailed soles.
Willie Gillis Food Package (1941)
Rockwell first introduced Willie Gillis as a fictional character in the first of a series of World War II propaganda paintings. Eleven of these were used as magazine covers by the Post between 1941 and 1946. As a boyish private, Willie charmed the American public from his induction through discharge, and boyhood through manhood; he became a highlight of Rockwell's wartime work. Rockwell described Gillis as "an inoffensive, ordinary little guy thrown into the chaos of war". Many Post subscribers assumed that Rockwell's Willie Gillis was a real person which encouraged them to further support the war bond effort. The artist's intent was to infuse a sense of duty, patriotism and optimism for those young American gentlemen going to war.
Carefully holding a white package with a red label, "FOOD", Willie glances anxiously to his right. War zone tradition dictated that any package from home was to be shared among the troops. Seven muscular officers are tightly grouped behind him and looking expectantly at the small package. The men are older, taller and dressed in uniforms of a higher rank. Rockwell deliberately presented these six determined men as one solid form in the center of the composition as a worrisome pressure for Gillis. Their expressions range from happily expectant to grimly resolved as they march with purpose and vigor behind Willie and his package. The five blue uniforms and the different angles of the caps are arranged to bring our eyes into and around the dense grouping which is also broken up by the tan uniforms. The four swinging arms with clenched fists help separate the men and create some space behind Willie. It is a very simple, shallow composition but it is full of gentle humor as the expression on Willie's face suggests that he would prefer not to share his bounty with his companions!
Influences and Connections

- Rembrandt van Rijn
- Howard Pyle
- J. C. Leyendecker
- Clyde Forsythe
- Realism
- The Golden Age of Illustration
- George Lucas
- Steven Spielberg