Full Description
In
these works, Rockwell offered a nation battered by the Great Depression and
World War II a reassuring image of American life: orderly, self-reliant, and
picturesque. Through paintings and illustrations, Rockwell captured not simply
scenes of New England life, but a deeply rooted ethos—one in which democratic
community, moral clarity, and quiet individualism flourished.
This
book, and the accompanying exhibition, situates Rockwell's Vermont years within
a broader creative milieu, highlighting the Arlington artist circle that
included John Atherton (1900-1952), and Gene Pelham (1909-2004)— all informally
enticed to Arlington, Vermont. Together, they helped define a cultural moment
in which Vermont was mythologized as democracy's granite-strong refuge. Even
Rockwell's orchestrated friendship with Anna Mary "Grandma" Moses (1860-1961)
was part of a wider crafting of New England as both authentic and
marketable—where artists and audiences alike found a form of moral anchorage.
Featuring
two newly acquired Rockwell paintings to Shelburne Museum celebrating Vermont's
granite industry—long regarded as the state's "backbone"—Norman Rockwell: At
Home in Vermont examines not only the imagery but the careful
mythmaking that made Vermont central to Rockwell's enduring vision of
America. Today, Rockwell's work is housed in major museums across the
country, a testament to his profound influence as an artist.
Contents
Foreword and Acknowledgments by Carolyn Bauer and Thomas Denenberg
Small Town, Big Picture: Norman Rockwell and the Arlington Artists by Carolyn Bauer
Looking North: Illustration, Art, and the Places in Between by Thomas Denenberg
Rock and Stone: The Life-and-Death Art of Norman Rockwell by Alexander Nemerov
Norman Rockwell's Arlington Years: 1938-1953
Notes
Bibliography
Author Biographies
Photo Credits
Index
