Norman Rockwell: 332 Magazine Covers (Tiny Folio) [Hardcover]

Christopher Finch (Author)

Book Description

Series: Tiny Folio | Publication Date: October 1, 1997

This full-sized album of Saturday Evening Post covers captures everyday events and historic moments in American history.

Although technically Norman Rockwell was an academic painter, he had the eye of a photographer and, as he became a mature artist, he used this eye to give us a picture of America that was famliar—astonishingly so—and at the same time unique. Rockwell best expressed this vision of America in his justly famous cover illustrations for magazines like The Saturday Evening Post. 332 of these cover paintings, from beloved classics like "Marbles Champion" to lesser-known gems like "Feeding Time," are reproduced in stunning full color in this large-format volume, which is sure to be treasured by art lovers everywhere.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Christopher Finch was born in Guernsey, Channel Islands, in 1939 and came to the United States in 1968 to join the curatorial staff of the Walker Art Centre in Minneapolis. His books include the best sellers Norman Rockwell's America, The Art of Walt Disney, and Rainbow, a biography of Judy Garland, which was turned into a film. His other books, as well as many articles for magazines on both sides of the Atlantic, have dealt with various aspects of contemporary painting and popular culture. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 376 pages
• Publisher: Abbeville Press (October 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789204096
• ISBN-13: 978-0789204097
• Product Dimensions: 4.5 x 4.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #992,495 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, November 27, 2001

By 

Samantha W. Mckevitt "longislandgirl" (Dix Hills, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Norman Rockwell: 332 Magazine Covers (Hardcover)

To say that you can spend hours browsing through this wonderful collection is an understatement. This is a book that can be savored over a lifetime.

It shows the progression of Rockwell's art from his early, almost Victorian style covers, to his most famous illustrations, to his political portraits. It always annoys me that people claim he is an illustrator, not an artist. Simply because these pictures tell a story should not detract from their artistic merit.

This volume has them all. From the beautiful, awkward, girl at the Mirror, Doctor's appointment and countless others that are not as well known, but still great! So many of these paintings allow us to learn more about America (Can you get much more American than Norman Rockwell?). His GI- Willie Gillis is truly everyman during WWII. We seem enjoying a hometown newspaper, on leave, with his comrades, and finally as a student on the GI Bill. So many ideas are timeless. The chronicle of a day in the life of a boy or girl seem to embody childhood. Commuters on a platform captures the rise of suburbia. THe one of a son sitting with his father and dog about to leave for college captures that bittersweet moment on the cusp of adolescence.

The sunlit, yet dusty, Marriage Liscense is generally recognized as art, but others should be too. I hope that with the recent Rockwell exhibets a new generation of Americans will appreciate this wodnerful artist who captured so much of our lives!

This is a great addition to any collection- you will never tire of looking through it!

40 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Collector's Item, April 13, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Norman Rockwell: 332 Magazine Covers (Hardcover)

If you can only have one Norman Rockwell book, look no further. This is the quintessential Norman Rockwell. You can spend hours and hours looking at the illustrations and still not fully grasp all the subtle nuances - like the cameo paintings within the painting; the relections in the mirror; the advertisements in the folded newspapers; and so on. I have only found one inconsistency. In "The Clock Mender" some areas in the painting make an abrupt departure from his trademark quasi-realistic style. It reminds me of Picasso's "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon". Was Rockwell cleverly introducing "Surrealism" into this particular painting, in an inverted Salvador Dali sort of way? Or was the original painting simply damaged and then retouched by someone else? It would make delightful reading if Mr Finch, or anyone else, could offer an explanation.

From Kelvin

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Deception, September 24, 2007

By 

Emmanuel Oettinger "Rockwell's fan" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Norman Rockwell 332 Magazine Covers (Hardcover)

This would be a wonderful book for Rockwell's fans BUT the poor quality of the printing and the copies of illustrations made me regret buying it.

It still makes a nice book on the shelf.