Norman Rockwell: A Life

by Laura P. Claridge

Book Overview

Norman Rockwell 's hundreds of memorable covers for The Saturday Evening Post made him a twentieth-century American icon. However, because of the very popularity of his idealized depictions of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375504532
• ISBN13: 9780375504532
• Release Date: October 2001
• Publisher: Random House (NY)
• Length: 546 Pages
• Weight: 2.24 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.7" x 6.6" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

A thoroughly enjoyable and intensely detailed book

This book totally opened my eyes to the fascinating world of illustration, let alone to Norman Rockwell himself. I am amazed that the author could include such learning and erudite information in such an engaging narrative format. I felt by the end of the book that I had personally known Rockwell. I am no novice to the art world, but this study left me far better informed than I was before I began it. Kudos to the author.

Norman Rockwell by Laura Claridge

I enjoyed Laura Claridge's biography Norman Rockwell. It's a lengthy book, but it had my attention from the very first line because Claridge immediately delved into the personality of Rockwell and showed how his personal life influenced his art. The book also fully depicted Rockwell's family and how they impacted his work. Claridge writes intelligently, a bit dramatically, and always interestingly.

An american icon, re-examined

Rockwell's life and art were much more complicated than popular history would have you believe and this book really gets down to the nitty-gritty. I was particularly interested in reading about his early history and how different it was from the ideal Americana that people usually associate with him. Definitely an eye-opener and a great read!

The Real Norman Rockwell

A fantastic biography that rivets you with it's vision of the world of early 20th Century Illustration through WWII and Vietnam. To say that it fills in the gaps and shadows of NR's life is an understatement. Who knew that Rockwell was a high school dropout that married three times--all to school teachers! That his first marriage was "open." I, like probably many, thought NR was politically conservative. WRONG! It turned out, while he liked Ike, he also voted for the Socialist Party in elections--and had a file on him at the FBI! Very well written, aimed primarily at the artist's life, rather than his art (though that is also touched upon to a great extent) right up through his current "revival." Reads as well as a good novel.