Your Photos On Canvas

The elevation of illustration as an art form worthy of critical admiration, display in museums, and collection along with fine artworks in older, more traditional mediums such as oil, watercolor, or ink, can be credited to the early American painter and illustrator, Norman Rockwell.

Having your best holiday photo made into an enlargement on canvas or having a formal graduation photo made into a portrait on canvas are both fine ways to create a "wall memory album" in your den, office or bedroom. But, how about creating a large work of art that is not only a personal memory but a dramatic design feature for your home or office?

Rockwell, a native New Yorker, was born in 1894 in his parent's Upper West Side apartment in Manhattan. He showed a natural talent for drawing at a young age. His father was in the habit of reading aloud to his family in the evenings, especially from the books of Charles Dickens, and even as a very small boy Norman would sketch the characters as he listened. Rockwell left high school to attend art school and began illustrating Christmas cards and children's books as a teenager, quickly turning his talents into a lucrative livelihood.

In 1916, at the age of 22, Rockwell sold his first cover illustration to "The Saturday Evening Post," perhaps the most prestigious magazine in the US at that time. The artist went on to create 321 covers for the Post over the next forty eight years, each illustration portraying typical American life and wholesome values.

Family Pictures on Canvas

He struck a chord with the American people with his idealized illustrations and heartwarming themes. His skill in rendering typical everyday family situations in exact detail was matched with an ability to portray human emotions and pick topics of universal appeal.

When we look back now at Normal Rockwell's work, with its photographic detail, we can easily see the resemblance to the modern photos to canvas artwork which has become so popular today.

His immense and enduring popularity was perhaps in large part due to his ability to create pictures on canvas that resembled beloved family photographs. In his later years he was quoted as saying, "My fundamental purpose is to interpret the typical American. I am a story teller."

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s many American artists were struggling to break away from the influences of the European art world to establish new distinctly American art movements such as Abstract and Pop Art. Most suffered years of critical abuse and a marked lack of financial success. Rockwell, on the other hand, became a highly successful commercial artist almost overnight and enjoyed popular acclaim and financial security throughout his long and fruitful career.

In the mid-1930s Rockwell illustrated new editions of the Mark Twain classics "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and "Tom Sawyer". He also began his association with "Boys' Life" magazine, the official publication of the Boy Scouts of America, and illustrated the official Boy Scout calendar for the next fifty years.

During World War II he painted his famous series, the "Four Freedoms" to symbolize the war aims as expressed by President Roosevelt - "Freedom of Speech," "Freedom to Worship," "Freedom from Want" and "Freedom from Fear".

Illustrator as Artist

Although Rockwell was proficient in several art mediums, his most famous work was painting from life models or photographs commissioned as illustrations for popular magazines. Rockwell's work was often dismissed by serious art critics during his lifetime. He referred to himself as an "illustrator" rather than an artist, but his brilliant technique and painting skills were never in doubt. His subject matter was deprecated by some critics for being unsophisticated, but his work was, and still is, greatly loved by the American people.

Rockwell received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977, the US's highest civilian honor. He died at the age of 84 in 1978. He produced over 4000 original works and illustrated over 40 books. One of his early works, Breaking Home Ties, sold for $15.4 million at a Sotheby's auction in 2006.