Norman Rockwell's autobiography conveys the flavor of his art: it is at once nostalgic, sharply focused, and humorous. His gift for description and anecdote, so evident in his illustrations, serves him well as a writer. Here is a man with a good story to tell and the ambition to do it well. And what excellent material he had! For Rockwell had an astonishingly long and fruitful life. He painted his first Saturday Evening Post cover before World War I and illustrated the first manned landing on the moon for Look over fifty years later. By World War II his art possessed a level of realism and moral seriousness that made it speak for the entire nation. After the war, he was well on his way to becoming a public figure, but the reader will find no dull lists of achievements, none of the idle name-dropping that mars the memoirs of so many famous people. Rockwell leaves us in 1959, hard at work on a Saturday Evening Post cover -- deeply engrossed by his work, struggling to get it right. The First edition of Rockwell's autobiography ended then, and although he considered updating it in his lifetime, events kept interfering. For this new edition, Thomas Rockwell, who crafted the original autobiography from his father's transcribed reminiscences, writes about the last twenty years of his father's life: his third marriage after the death of Mary; the years of his greatest fame; and the inevitable waning of his physical powers, which seems particularly shocking in the case of a man as reliant on his eye and hand as Rockwell was. This new edition of Norman Rockwell: My Adventures as an Illustrator also includes 138 illustrations, 50 of them in color. Most of the illustrations and all of the color plates are made from original Rockwell paintings and drawings. The many sketches that show Rockwell in the course of developing ideas carry the immediacy of the text into the illustrations. --

The life of America’s most beloved artist, in his own words—back in print with restored text and drawings, new illustrations, and more. The wit, humanity, and many-sided talent of Norman Rockwell (1894–1978) are on full display in his classic autobiography. Rockwell’s New York City boyhood, his apprentice days at the Art Students League, his first fateful visit to the Saturday Evening Post, his adventures abroad, his move to rural Vermont—all are recounted with a mix of sharp observation and self-deprecating humor. Throughout Rockwell invites the reader into his artistic process: he introduces his favorite models, candidly reveals his biggest flops, and documents the creation of a Post cover step by step. This Definitive Edition restores the original 1960 text of My Adventures as an Illustrator, as well as the playful vignettes that Rockwell drew to head each chapter. Thanks to a massive image digitization effort undertaken by the Norman Rockwell Museum, it is also illustrated with more than 150 of Rockwell’s paintings and drawings, many of which highlight lesser-known aspects of his work. A new introduction by the artist’s granddaughter Abigail Rockwell adds reference value, as do an illustrated chronology and an annotated bibliography prepared by the staff of the Norman Rockwell Museum. This attractive volume will be the essential source on the life of Norman Rockwell, and delightful reading for anyone who enjoys his art. Plus, its publication coincides with a major new exhibition at the Norman Rockwell Museum concerning the autobiographical elements in the artist’s work (Norman Rockwell: Private Moments for the Masses, June 8 through October 27, 2019).

A selection of paintings including commentaries on each one from the 1920's through the 1960's.

In this autobiography, Norman Rockwell describes his early struggles to become an artist: his rising career as a popular illustrator of magazines and advertisements; his experiences with colleagues, models, and clients; his periods of self-doubt and how he overcame them. Examples of Rockwell's art include both old favourites and less familiar works. Tom Rockwell, the artist's son, who worked with his father to produce this book in 1960, added an afterword on the artist's last years for this edition.

Norman Rockwell's son, Tom, has put together the absolute finest collection of his father's bounteous body of work, illustrations that bespeak the golden glow of pre- and post-WWII Americana. Rockwell senior, who said he depicted life “as I would like it to be,” chronicled iconic visions of American life: the Thanksgiving turkey, soda fountains, ice skating on the pond, and small-town boys playing baseball-not to mention the beginning of the civil rights movement. Now, the best-selling collection of Rockwell's most beloved illustrations, organized by decade, is available in a refreshed edition. With more than 150 images-oil paintings, watercolors, and rare black-and-white sketches--this is an uncommonly faithful Rockwell treasury. The original edition has sold nearly 200,000 copies.