Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Norman Rockwell: The Business of Illustrating the American Dream

Hoover , Deborah D.
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4119-7527
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1543573493216126

Abstract Details

2018, MA, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of History.
Norman Rockwell was a renowned illustrator and chronicler of American life for more than half a century, documenting the pulse of American life during pivotal times in twentieth century history. During his long and celebrated career, he navigated a wide array of business relationships through which he took direction from his clients, yet simultaneously inserted his own individualistic perceptions of society capturing change through subtle imagery and minute details. This thesis will illuminate three such relationships in order to dissect how the interplay of client to artist negotiations and communications influenced the tenor and content of the images Rockwell created and the direction of his career. For Rockwell’s magazine covers, The Saturday Evening Post in particular, the artist was expected to adhere to strict parameters of imagery designed to sell magazines to middle class consumers and business people who in the view of the publisher, epitomized American Exceptionalism and represented achievers in their quest for the American Dream. For his advertising clients, content and messaging were heavily influenced by trends in consumerism, connections of consumerism to democracy, and the science of advertising, coupled with Rockwell’s own observations of societal trends. Finally, Rockwell’s longtime association with Famous Artists Schools placed the artist and his exceptional talent in the midst of an expansive international business teaching art to those who had time to spare and sought the rewards of the American Dream. Famous Artists Schools also provided Rockwell with structure for his multifaceted career that served to ground his family with benefits and consistency. Rockwell was certainly influenced by the clients he served, but also through insertion of his own perceptions, came to influence the direction of American life. Late in life, Rockwell was able to loosen the constraints placed upon him by his client relationships, working for Look and was finally able to depict the social injustices that haunted him throughout his life and career.
Kenneth Bindas, Ph.D. (Advisor)
Kenneth Bindas, Ph.D. (Advisor)
155 p.
History
Norman Rockwell; illustration; Saturday Evening Post; consumerism; Famous Artists Schools; leisure time

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Hoover , D. D. (2018). Norman Rockwell: The Business of Illustrating the American Dream [Master's thesis, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1543573493216126

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Hoover , Deborah . Norman Rockwell: The Business of Illustrating the American Dream. 2018. Kent State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1543573493216126.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Hoover , Deborah . "Norman Rockwell: The Business of Illustrating the American Dream." Master's thesis, Kent State University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1543573493216126

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1543573493216126
2,186
© 2018, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.