Norman Rockwell, Kara Marling, Library of American Art, American art books, art books, illustration books, Artist books, Norman Rockwell art

Norman Rockwell, Kara Marling, Library of American Art, American art books, art books, illustration books, Artist books, Norman Rockwell art

Library of American Art: Norman Rockwell, by Kara Marling. NF.

Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) is, without question, the best-loved of American artists. And although his work appears in countless books, this is the first to seriously access his achievement. Not a biography, this is a cultural history of Rockwell, setting his work in the context of American life. 100 illustrations, 50 in full color.

Perhaps Norman Rockwell will always be saddled with the reputation of a sentimental magazine illustrator who airbrushed American reality. But art historian Karal Ann Marling’s generous reassessment strives with considerable success to rescue Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) from cultural cliché. “Rockwell fits readily into the grand continuum of realist masters,” she contends persuasively. His life had its share of hardships, Marling notes, including his wife’s alcoholism and his own bouts of depression; his depiction of American society became more somber over time and eventually led to his break with the Saturday Evening Post. Handsome reproductions of all of the famous images brace her argument.