Laura Claridge
Norman Rockwell: A Life
Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“A brilliant biography.”
Chicago Sun-Times
“A fine book. . .clear and lively.”
Christian Science Monitor
“A critical biography of exceptional quality. . . .carefully researched, well written, and a pleasure to read.”
People Magazine
“Fascinating”
Entertainment Weekly
“Claridge has done an extraordinary job; she is an exhaustive researcher and a gifted art historian.”
The Washington Post
“Impeccably researched and engagingly written.”
Michael Kammen, The Boston Globe
“Judicious, eminently readable, and astute, persuasive. . . This book deserves a wide readership”
Michael Kimmelman, The New York Times
“An excellent and thorough new biography”
Norman Rockwell’s hundreds of memorable covers for The Saturday Evening Post made him a twentieth-century American icon. However, because of the very popularity of his idealized depictions of middle-class life, his more serious paintings have been largely ignored, and he has often been deemed a mere illustrator, not a “real” artist.
In this, the first comprehensive biography of America’s most popular artist, Laura Claridge breaks new ground with her appreciative but clear-eyed view of Rockwell’s work—and his life. Based upon previously unpublished family archives and hundreds of interviews, this account reveals for the first time the deep disparity between the artist’s public image and his private life.