Norman Rockwell: From Camera to Canvas

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For more than forty years, photographs were the building blocks of Norman Rockwell’s art. Following his preliminary sketches, they were the first depictions of his ideas. In this crucial stage between concept and canvas, Rockwell choreographed the elements of character, expression, setting, and detail, creating photographic images that became the templates for his paintings. Rockwell’s thousands of reference photographs are exceptional in their scope, detail, and nuance. 

Scouting models and locations, researching costumes and props, he carefully orchestrated each element of his design to be photographed before putting paint to canvas. Staging his scenarios for the camera, the artist instructed his photographers when and what to shoot as he directed a cast of amateur actors. Although Rockwell never intended his reference photographs to be viewed on their own merits, they are nonetheless authentic expressions of his vision. Works of art in their own right, they represent a little-known body of Norman Rockwell images in an unexpected medium. 

Norman Rockwell: From Camera to Canvas features photographs, tear-sheets, finished paintings, oil studies, and drawings that span Rockwell’s prolific career. The exhibition was curated by Ron Schick and Stephanie Haboush Plunkett and organized by the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

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