Of all American painters, Norman Rockwell (1894–1978) is surely the best-known and most-loved. Talent and decades of providing illustrations for such magazines as Boy’s Life and The Saturday Evening Post won him this place in the annals of American culture.
Though some critics don’t considered him a real artist but an illustrator—Rockwell himself proudly adopted that title—the fact remains that many of us easily recognize and take pleasure in his work: the scenes set in barbershops and doctor’s offices, the joy and humor so often found in his sentimental paintings of people and situations, his consummate skill with a brush, and his clear love for his country.