Mark English talks about Norman Rockwell
Many of the Founders of Famous Artists School were giants in the field of American art, and none more so than Norman Rockwell. Among our current Guiding Faculty, several artists knew Rockwell, and felt his influence as their own art careers developed.
Recently we asked Mark English to reflect on Rockwell and his significance for a generation of American artists. Here’s what he had to say.
Quite simply, Norman Rockwell was a genius at telling a story and caputring the real character of his subjects. Each of his paintings is a self-contained short story. There’s no need for any words—the story is all right there, in the faces of the people and in the situations. All of the covers that he created for the Saturday Evening Post had that quality of story-telling.
Of course, we shouldn’t forget that Rockwell, as a painter, was also a technical genius.
I met him about a year before he died. As you might expect, he was a friendly and witty man, who could tell a funny story with animation and zest.
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