Norman Rockwell’s 323 Saturday Evening Post Covers

For nearly fifty years, millions of Americans brought Norman Rockwell’s art into their homes, enjoying the artist’s Saturday Evening Post covers while seated in their favorite chairs, surrounded by their belongings in the company of their families. This intimate connection with Rockwell’s art made his images a part of the fabric of American lives. This comprehensive exhibition of original Saturday Evening Post cover tear sheets features each of Norman Rockwell’s illustrations for the publication, created between 1916 and 1963.

Ephemeral Beauty: Al Parker and the American Women’s Magazine, 1940-1960

“While the rest of us are working knee-deep in a groove, you are forever changing and improving. You have brought more freshness, charm and vitality to illustration than any other living illustrator.” — Norman Rockwell, from a letter to Al Parker, 1948

America’s Camp: The Children of 9/11

A powerful exhibition of artworks created at America’s Camp in the Berkshires by the children of parents who died as a result of the tragic events of September 11, 2001. Many children have attended America’s Camp in western Massachusetts annually, where they participated in group projects that provided the opportunity for self-expression, from memory quilts to sculptural reflections on loss and hope.

LitGraphic: The World of the Graphic Novel

A burgeoning art form with roots planted firmly in history, graphic novels, or long-form comic books, have begun to gain the interest of the literary establishment. But for many of today’s younger readers, graphic novels, with their antiheroes and visual appeal to the image literate, are positioned to usurp the role that the novel once played. Focused on subjects as diverse as the nature of relationships, the perils of war, and the meaning of life, graphic novels now comprise the fastest-growing sections of many bookstores – an accessible, vernacular art form with mass appeal. This hallmark exhibition explores the art and history of the graphic novel offering commentary and original works by the field’s most celebrated historic and contemporary practitioners including Brian Fees, Marc Hempel, Mark Kalesniko, Peter Kuper, Lynd Ward, and many others.

Freedom Fries: The Political Art of Steve Brodner (Working Title)

In the finest tradition of Thomas Nast and the art of political satire, this special exhibition anticipates America’s 2008 presidential elections with stunning visual perspectives on the nation’s most prominent contemporary leaders and their legacies.

An award-winning draftsman, commentator, and humorist, Steve Brodner has created illustrations, cartoons, and reportage imagery for nearly every major American periodical, including Esquire, The New York Times, New York Magazine, Mother Jones, The Nation, The National Lampoon, Rolling Stone, Sports Illustrated, The Washington Post, and the Village Voice. One of the great practitioners of this singular art form, he is at the cutting edge of personal opinion, expressed it in a way that can never be approximated in words.

A Call to Action: The Illustrated Posters of World War I

During the First World War, illustrated posters were the primary form of public communication. Original and published works designed to rally American citizens to the cause were created by such noted visual communicators as J.C. Leyendecker, James Montgomery Flagg, Howard Chandler Christie, and Jessie Willcox Smith among others will be on view. Their powerful imagery inspired enlistment in the armed forces and deployed medical units, the support of the American Red Cross, participation in war relief programs, and a strong sense of nationalism and patriotism. The impact of these important cultural icons on society will be explored.

Barnyard Dance! The Irrepressible Art of Sandra Boynton

For more than twenty-five years, Sandra Boynton has delighted readers with irrepressible illustrations and vibrant musical compositions for the young and the young at heart. This family friendly exhibition invites visitors of all ages to take an interactive look at the world of one of America’s most beloved visual humorists – the author of such best selling children’s books as Your Personal Penguin, Dog Train, Barnyard Dance!, Philadelphia Chickens, and many others.

Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera

This hallmark exhibition draws upon the Norman Rockwell Museum’s extensive collection of archival photographs and negatives, which provide documentation of Norman Rockwell’s working process. The artist’s use of the camera and working methods will be the focus of this installation, which will explore the ways in which Rockwell’s use of the camera aided his creative process and influenced his artistic style. Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera will also appear in book form, published by Little, Brown and Company.

Double Identity: American Artists as Illustrators

Early modernist painter Arthur Dove (1880-1946) was the first American artist to create a completely abstract picture, a part of a series of paintings created in 1910. During that same period, he could be seen rushing into the streets of New York City to capture the events of his day with powerful black and white illustrations that appeared in such prominent publications Scribner’s and Harper’s Weekly. Dove was not alone. Many American painters and sculptors who have been critically acclaimed for their personal work have also created illustrations for the publications, corporations and institutions of their times. Unhampered by the lines that have separated the fine and applied arts, these celebrated fine artists have also made important contributions as visual journalists, children’s book illustrators, editorial artists and graphic designers.

Double Identity: American Artists as Illustrators is the first comprehensive exhibition to spotlight the illustration art and careers of twentieth century modern masters. Illustrations and personal works by Everett Shinn, William Glackens, Robert Henri, George Luks, John Sloan, George Bellows, Arthur Dove, Reginald Marsh, Ben Shahn, Stuart Davis, Walter Murch, Charles Demuth, Espher Slobodkina, Edward Hopper, Adolph Dehn, Grant Wood, Thomas Hart Benton, Maurice Perndergast, Ad Reinhardt, Andy Warhol and others will be on view.

The Pleasure of Recognition: Rockwell’s Inspirations

This groundbreaking exhibition will offer important insights into Norman Rockwell’s artistic inspirations and appropriations by comparison with imagery made by a diverse group of celebrated illustrators and fine artists working in the sixteenth through twentieth centuries. Artists whom Norman Rockwell has quoted include Michelangelo, Rembrandt van Rijn, Frans Hals, Diego Velazquez, Howard Pyle, Charles Russell, Charles Caleb Ward, George Bellows, Carl Spitzwieg and others, whose works will be on view. Please note that exhibition dates are subject to change. For information on exhibitions and programs, please call 413-298, 4100, ext. 220 or visit our Web site at www.nrm.org.