Norman Rockwell’s World: An American Dream

Norman Rockwell’s World: An American Dream.

A dreamer indeed, Norman Rockwell paintings portray

American life at its best. Born in New York City in 1894 back

when horse and buggy was the main transportation, along with the

trolleys that filled the streets. Fun in those days was simple,

a picnic in the park, play baseball in the street, or shoot

marbles. His heroes when he was a kid were all illustrators.

When Norman Rockwell went to work doing covers for the

Saturday Evening Post his career took off, as the nation began

to see his work regularly, his popularity boomed. Not bad for a

kid from New York City that dropped out of high school. At the

time of this film 1987 Norman Rockwell had already lived through

World war’s I and II, the Korean conflict, Vietnam. Also

Lindberg’s first flight and the First flight to the moon.

Norman Rockwell’s paintings are a history of American

culture. He painted things common to all Americans, events, real

people, common people, and familiar faces. Always painted in a

positive way, even during negative times in America. His

paintings make you proud to be an American. They bring back

memories of a better time. A stroll in the park, a family

picnic, baseball, hotdogs, and apple pie.

His paintings reflect his culture and the way life should

be in his eyes. In the small town Norman Rockwell was living in

at the time of this film, he had painted every person in the

small New England town. His themes are 100% American. A cowboy,

a hayride, a boy fishing, a farmer, kids eating watermelon,

riding bicycles, the holidays, bridges, baseball, sports, war.

Or his ideas reflecting freedom of speech or prayer.

I personally enjoyed the film, I love Norman Rockwell’s

work. I think we are fortunate today compared to earlier periods

of art in the fact that this artist can make a film and talk

about his own life and ideas. To me this guy is like my hero, he

can see the beauty in the most simplest of things that I think

most people take for granted. How many people can truly see the

beauty of a couple kids smiling having fun and eating a big

slice of cool watermelon. Or a boy playing baseball and getting

his first hit. Perhaps a sailor coming home from sea and kissing

his wife at the dock. I think he paints about how life should

really be.

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