The Tampa Museum of Art will host an exhibition from March 7 to May 31 featuring the works of Norman Rockwell, one of America's most renowned illustrators. Rockwell is renowned for his 323 cover illustrations for The Saturday Evening Post over 47 years depicting slices of Americana. The exhibition will include many of Rockwell's Post covers as well as oil paintings, showing his visual storytelling abilities. It will also give insights into Rockwell's process by displaying his notes, letters, photographs and images of him working. Rockwell had a passion for illustration from a young age and became a master at capturing and preserving 20th century American culture and society in his works.

1. As Rockwell himself said, “I love to tell stories in pictures. For
me, the story is the first thing and the last thing.” The works of one of America’s
most esteemed artists, Norman Rockwell (1894 – 1978), will be displayed at the
Tampa Museum of Art on March 7 through May 31 in the exhibition “American
Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell.”
Rockwell excelled at his craft, illustrating 323 cover page photos
over the course of 47 years for The Saturday Evening Post, and
later illustrating for Look magazine, while continuing to contribute
illustrations for Boys’ Life, a Boy Scout publication, throughout his
life. His legacy remains in his ability to depict a picturesque view of
society while also maintaining its truth throughout the ages.
The exhibition includes examples of his work from the 1910s to the
1960s, featuring 323 Post covers (tear sheets), as well as numerous
Post covers and original oil paintings the prolific artist created during
his long career with the magazine. The exhibition will allow visitors a
visual walk through much of 20th-century American history.
“Those who lived through some of the events depicted will enjoy
reliving them, while those too young to remember them will be treated
to a tour de force of visual storytelling,” Seth Pevnick said. Pevnick is
the executive director of the Tampa Museum of Art.
The exhibition will also give visitors a good sense of how Rockwell
worked. Alongside his finished paintings and published posters and
magazine covers, they will also display examples of his own notes,
letters, and reference photographs, as well as photographs of Rockwell
at work in his studio.
“People are often astonished by the scale and painterly beauty of
Norman Rockwell’s art,” said Laurie Norton Moffatt, director/CEO
of the Norman Rockwell Museum. “There is nothing like seeing
a Norman Rockwell image in its original form. He was a master
storyteller and kept his finger on the pulse of American culture for
much of the 20th century.”
Rockwell’s passion for illustration began at a young age when he
started taking classes at The New School of Art in New York City
at the age of 14. Rockwell then dropped out of high school and
enrolled in Art Students League of New York where he was taught by
exceptional artists like Thomas Fogarty and Frank Vincent DuMond.
After graduating, he quickly did works for various publications until
1916 when he began illustrating for the Post, for which he would
Tampa Arts Tampa Arts
illustrate some 323 originals, many of which
are featured in the exhibit.
Rockwell entertained the country with
heartwarming, candid images of society,
like “After Prom Night,” and “Santa Claus”
which illustrates Old Saint Nick with a Coca
Cola in hand.
In the last 10 years of his career, Rockwell
illustrated for Look magazine, where he
created works that displayed poverty, space
exploration and civil rights activities, as
depicted in “The Problem we All Live With,”
where a young, African-American girl walks
to school accompanied by police officers for
protection. Such works are representations
of history, and preserve the country’s ever
evolving culture.
In 1973, Rockwell created a trust that
ensured the preservation of his works,
which was then acquired by the Norman
Rockwell Museum to allow his art to be
exhibited and used for the “advancement of
art appreciation and art education.” A year
before his death in 1978, Rockwell received
the United State’s highest civilian honor, the
Presidential Medal of Freedom by President
Jimmy Carter.
“The museum is thrilled to showcase
exhibitions that continue our mission to tell
the story of modern art,” Todd D. Smith
said, the executive director of the Tampa
Museum of Art.
TheTampa Museum of Artopened its award-
winning home in 2010 with a commitment
to providing innovative public programs
with a strong focus on classical, modern, and
contemporary art. The Museum balances
a growing collection, including one of
the largest Greek and Roman antiquities
acquisitions in the southeast, with a dynamic
annual schedule of special exhibitions. It is
the region’s largest museum devoted to art
of our time and has built a reputation for
embracing contemporary photography and
new media.
For more information on the exhibit, for the
museum’s hours of operation or to purchase
tickets, visit TampaMuseum.org.
By Alexis Minieri
“I will never have enough time to paint all the
pictures I want to.” - Norman Rockwell
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