Customer Reviews

Norman Rockwell: A Life (Modern Library Paperbacks)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've been an illustrator for 40 years. My mentor was a contemporary of Rockwell, also an illustrator and portrait painter who was at the Art Student's League at about the same time as NR. I was all set to like this book after viewing the attractive and articulate author on BookNotes. It turned out to be a chore to read. I'm surprised that Random didn't do more fact checking or editing. It is not so much narrative as it is cut-and-paste word processing. Consider this line for example on page 394: "But at least one son, Jarvis -- who, on finding that he had did not fit particularly well into the Air Force ...." Where are the copy editors when you need them?

Then there are the significant errors, as in the following: [page 209] "First, he recalled briefly the beauty contest he had judged a few years before with Clare Briggs the cartoonist and Nell Brinkley the actress." A simple search on Google will confirm that Nell Brinkley (1886-1944) was also famous as a cartoonist who drew pretty young things for the New York Evening Journal, and not an actress.

On page 300, the author describes a painting of Willie Gillis in church: "In the three pews, shown, only Willie's torso and face are visible; the shoulder of a man in front, and the arm of a man behind, their respective officer and upper enlisted stripes prominent...." This is a curious description coming from someone who taught at the Naval Academy. There is no man shown in front, just the shoulder boards of a US Navy commander. As for the upper enlisted stripes, she should have said hash marks and the distinctive stripes of a First Sergeant (three stripes, two rockers, and a diamond).

The author continually refers to Rockwell's clients as patrons, a term I have never heard used by illustrators or other so-called commercial artists. She also goes to great length to chastise NR for continually accepting more work than he had time to do. This has always been common practice. Some clients bail out after reviewing sketches or comprehensives, or for purely business reasons, which is why kill-fees are used to protect freelancers from spinning their wheels. Anyone who has ever engaged carpenters or other tradesmen knows that they, too, overbook. People who work for themselves have to overbook, if they expect to survive.

The author, as academic, devotes much of the book to psychobabble and pronouncements from on high, making it seem that the Golden Age of Illustration had passed Rockwell by. She refers to the obvious giants such as Pyle, Wyeth, Parrish, and others, who rode in on the waves of four-color process printing as it was first perfected for print production. But consider that Rockwell was the most famous illustrator ever, with an enormous following, and this added years to the Golden Age of Illustration as technical advances continued. It also added many more excellent illustrators, Rockwell's fellow instructors at the Famous Artists School to name a few.

NR's buddies in Arlington, Vermont -- Mead Schaeffer, and John Atherton -- are mentioned often in that period of Rockwell's life, but they are never adequately fleshed out as individuals, Then, we are told that they left Arlington without explaining why.

There are no examples of their work. There are two signatures of photo reproductions reduced to sizes too small to be of much pictorial value. One would really need Arthur Guptill's book on Rockwell, or another compilation of NR's work to understand what the author is talking about as she describes paintings that are either too small to be studied, or do not appear at all.

I wish the text had been cut by a third, elimating all those distant cousins, who add little, or nothing, to the story, and two signatures of full page 4/c process illustrations added, even if it would mean an increase to the cover price.

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.

I've grown up with Norman Rockwell images as part of my life, like so many other Americans--but I've never known anything about the man himself. So I picked this up (great discount from Amazon!) and I just have to write in now and say what an amazing story this is! I'm never going to look at a Rockwell illustration the same way again. I don't have time to get into lengthy descriptions except to say this artist had a long and fascinating life that pretty much spanned the 20th century, and this author does a wonderful job describing both his life and times. As a fine arts grad student, I was particularly fascinated to read how Rockwell's incredible skill at drawing was sort of his downfall. He was such a successful illustrator that he never got the chance to be a poor starving artist and find himself. The downside of early success... who knew?

I highly recommend this to anyone interested in art, or not--it's really for anyone who loves a great biography and a great American story.
ACR, RISD student

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!

This book gets a solid three stars for its interesting subject matter and honest approach in storytellng.

Norman Rockwell, unlike his 'perfect' scenes of life in America, did not live a perfect life. His story is filled whith many of the challenges and obstacles that all of us face in our everyday lives... Perhaps that's why his work comes across with such clarity and truthfulness.

Starting out as an ad illustrator at a young age, he moved up in status over the years until his work was considerd not only the best in modern commercial illustration but some even began calling it "Fine Art". How did he accomplish such a feat? Hard work. Everyday in the studio he would put in 10-12 hours... working hard to get the next five projects done because ten more are waiting and they are 6-12 months overdue. (Norman was a workaholic who had a hard time saying no to requests.)

If you like his artwork, or if you want to read a story about pure determinitaion and persistance (...of Cal Ripkin caliber), scan your eyes across a few hundred pages of this one. It was certainly worth the time I spent reading it.

I opened this book greatly anticipating the read only to be disappointed by the author. I gave 2 stars for subject, 0 stars for the writing. She spent so much time exploring every relative from his distant past as well as someone only confused with a distant past relative that by the time she got down to Norman you had dug though many other Rockwells, which really didin't add to your knowledge of who Norman really was. Also the writing style took away from the subject matter. The style was so different than what you would expect to hear from Norman Rockwell himself. He was a "Regular Joe" and this is written so that you have to dig through the flowery phrasing to get to the meat of the idea. Instead of spending my time enjoying the story, I was working through the writing style. I expected a book on this subject to be a reflection of the man. It is too bad this author felt the need to impress with her turn of a phrase instead of letting her subject make the impression. I'm surprised an editor didn't red pencil a good part of the manuscript and give notes as to phrasing.

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.

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.

This insightful biography should not be the first book to be read by those interested in the art of Norman Rockwell. Coffee table books displaying his art and shorter biographic sketches should be read first to obtain the background and appreciation of this American icon. Laura Claridge presents an insightful, revealing but uninspring protrait of an aspect of Rockwell's life that is largely unknown to an adoring public. Rockwell's personal life in his later years was an unhappy one. Details of Rockwell's commercial appeal and his discomfort with his advertising commisions are presented. Problems with his wives and a balanced perspective of their father by his sons forms a major portion this book. Nevertheless, those who want to understand the conflicts in a reappraisal of Rockwells's work by art critics and the personal philosophy and inner thoughts of Rockwell in formulating the themes of some of his most famous and beloved works will be well-rewarded. The first 10 pages in the author's preface gives her perspective on how she wrote this biography and how her view of Rockwell and his art changed as she learned more about this individual and his fortunes and misfortunes. The preface is valuable because she outlines the pitfalls of the valididty of any single biography and its dependence on the perpsective of the biographer. As appreciation of the genuius of Rockwell increases after his death, this biography will also become more important.

I found this book very difficult to read for the following reasons. First, the text is in serious need of a good editor and could be cut by 20 to 30%. Second, the prose is difficult to read not because it contains profound thoughts, but that the sentences seem to be "tangled" and eccentrically constructed. Third there is too much psycho nonsense. Even professional psychiatrists tend to tread very carefully when discussing subjects that they have never met - Anthony Storrs on Sir Winston Churchill or the late John Mack on T. E. Lawrence. Psycho babble about Norman Rockwell doesn't teach us anything and only makes the author seem foolish.