About Norman Rockwell

The year is fast approaching it's end... again. It is about time to start looking for a new calendar. I usually don't care much what the calendar looks like, as long as it provides enough space to jot down our obligations, appointments, etc.

A couple of years ago my father-in-law gave us a Norman Rockwell calendar and I enjoyed very much flipping over to the next month and looking at the print which accompanied it. It made me curious about the artist.

Norman Perceval Rockwell was born on February 3, 1894, in New York City, as the first son of first of Jarvis Waring Rockwell and Ann Mary Hill. They had one more son, Jarvis and Norman's father earned a living by working at a textile firm; at first as an office boy and eventually as manager.

Norman started drawing as a child and he enjoyed it so much, he decided to become an artist. He studied art during his freshman year in high school, by visiting Chase school on Saturdays.

Soon, he expanded his study by going twice a week and eventually quit high school all together during his sophomore year, to fully concentrate on studying art.

In 1910 he enrolled at The National Academy of Design, but soon attended the Art Students League and got his first assignments at the age of just 14. Even though he enlisted during WWI, he never got to participate in any battles; he was given the role of a military artist for the duration of his tour of duty.

He met Irene O'Connor in 1916, when she was the model for one of his assignments which was published in 1921. The couple got married, but divorced in 1930 after which Norman married schoolteacher Mary Barstow. They had three children: Jarvis Waring, Thomas Rhodes and Peter Barstow and continued to live in New York until 1939, when they moved to Arlington, Vermont.

The family moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, in 1953. Mary Barstow Rockwell died unexpectedly in 1958, after which Norman decided to write his auto-biography. In 1961, Rockwell married Molly Punderson, who was a retired teacher.

NormanRockwell's health started to worsen in 1976 and on November 8, 1978, he died of emphysema at the respectable age of 84 at his home in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

See also:
Norman Rockwell's Work
Norman Rockwell's Economical Impact