Norman "Percevel" Rockwell (1894-1978)

I personally like the artist, Norman Rockwell, because he painted realistic settings in an everyday person's life, that may be almost hidden behind the scenes, or not appreciated.  These scenes are not necessarily considered "interesting" to the average human, but yet they still continue to intrigue us because there is something familiar in them to us that we can't quite place our finger on.  I also really like Norman Rockwell because he had a good reason and influence for every last painting he made, so there is history behind the history of the painting itself.
Norman Rockwell was born in New York City in 1894.  At the age of only fourteen, he transferred out of high school to Chase Art School.  He continued to pursue his art career at the National Academy of Design, and finally onto the Art Students League.  His first major art breakthrough came when he was eighteen for Carl H. Claudy's Tell Me Why:  Stories About Mother Nature.  He was married three times to three different women: one of which he divorced, another who had died of a heart attack, and one he had until his own death on November 8, 1978 of emphysema at the age of 84 in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.  He had three children.

The image to the left appeals to me because, obviously, I play and I love basketball.  However, it also it sort of a funny picture because everyone is pointing a finger, blaming everyone except for themselves.  This picture really makes whoever is looking at it think.  It makes you wonder, and make a guess at who is right, even though there is absolutely no proof to see if your guess is correct.

I really like this picture because it is a self-portrait, without it being a self-portrait.  I like how you can see Rockwell from three different angles, with three different techniques.  The details he also includes with famous former artists such as a picture of Albrecht Durer attached to his drawing canvas, is something you can really respect by him making the extra mile to make something really personal to him.  Even though not everyone who sees the painting would notice small things such as that, it is still really cool that he included them in his paintings anyway.








Something I found really interesting about Norman Rockwell, was that during World War I, he wanted to enlist.  At six feet and 140 pounds, he was not allowed to enter because he was eight pounds underweight.  So one night to make up those pounds, he completely gorged himself on bananas, liquids, and doughnuts.  He finally weighed enough to enlist the next day. Unfortunately, he was given the role of a military artist and did not see any action during his first tour of duty.  I really enjoyed reading this, because I respected that he wouldn't take no for an answer, and that he did whatever he had to in order to be able to accomplish whatever it was he set his mind on.