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Rating: 
Summary: A Collector's Item
Review: If you can only have one Norman Rockwell book, look no further. This is the quintessential Norman Rockwell. You can spend hours and hours looking at the illustrations and still not fully grasp all the subtle nuances - like the cameo paintings within the painting; the relections in the mirror; the advertisements in the folded newspapers; and so on. I have only found one inconsistency. In "The Clock Mender" some areas in the painting make an abrupt departure from his trademark quasi-realistic style. It reminds me of Picasso's "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon". Was Rockwell cleverly introducing "Surrealism" into this particular painting, in an inverted Salvador Dali sort of way? Or was the original painting simply damaged and then retouched by someone else? It would make delightful reading if Mr Finch, or anyone else, could offer an explanation.From Kelvin
Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: To say that you can spend hours browsing through this wonderful collection is an understatement. This is a book that can be savored over a lifetime. It shows the progression of Rockwell's art from his early, almost Victorian style covers, to his most famous illustrations, to his political portraits. It always annoys me that people claim he is an illustrator, not an artist. Simply because these pictures tell a story should not detract from their artistic merit. This volume has them all. From the beautiful, awkward, girl at the Mirror, Doctor's appointment and countless others that are not as well known, but still great! So many of these paintings allow us to learn more about America (Can you get much more American than Norman Rockwell?). His GI- Willie Gillis is truly everyman during WWII. We seem enjoying a hometown newspaper, on leave, with his comrades, and finally as a student on the GI Bill. So many ideas are timeless. The chronicle of a day in the life of a boy or girl seem to embody childhood. Commuters on a platform captures the rise of suburbia. THe one of a son sitting with his father and dog about to leave for college captures that bittersweet moment on the cusp of adolescence. The sunlit, yet dusty, Marriage Liscense is generally recognized as art, but others should be too. I hope that with the recent Rockwell exhibets a new generation of Americans will appreciate this wodnerful artist who captured so much of our lives! This is a great addition to any collection- you will never tire of looking through it!
Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: To say that you can spend hours browsing through this wonderful collection is an understatement. This is a book that can be savored over a lifetime. It shows the progression of Rockwell's art from his early, almost Victorian style covers, to his most famous illustrations, to his political portraits. It always annoys me that people claim he is an illustrator, not an artist. Simply because these pictures tell a story should not detract from their artistic merit. This volume has them all. From the beautiful, awkward, girl at the Mirror, Doctor's appointment and countless others that are not as well known, but still great! So many of these paintings allow us to learn more about America (Can you get much more American than Norman Rockwell?). His GI- Willie Gillis is truly everyman during WWII. We seem enjoying a hometown newspaper, on leave, with his comrades, and finally as a student on the GI Bill. So many ideas are timeless. The chronicle of a day in the life of a boy or girl seem to embody childhood. Commuters on a platform captures the rise of suburbia. THe one of a son sitting with his father and dog about to leave for college captures that bittersweet moment on the cusp of adolescence. The sunlit, yet dusty, Marriage Liscense is generally recognized as art, but others should be too. I hope that with the recent Rockwell exhibets a new generation of Americans will appreciate this wodnerful artist who captured so much of our lives! This is a great addition to any collection- you will never tire of looking through it!
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