Christmas is by far my favorite holiday. There’s something magical about the lights and the winter atmosphere. And not to mention the warmth that comes from sharing happiness with your loved ones. It’s thins feeling of home I enjoy the most and that’s why I chose to write about Christmas.
My love for art comes not only for a deep curiosity for this craft, but mostly from my love of life. There is nothing more powerful than an artwork capable of making a story come to life and pull the observer in. I believe Norman Rockwell’s illustrations can do that, despite the undeniable lameness of some of them. So let’s dive in together in this Christmas themed article.
Norman Rockwell
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) was an American illustrator who became famous for the covers he designed for the Saturday Evening Post for almost 50 years.
Despite not being very renowned outside of the United States, his art became part of the American and therefore Western culture in unimaginable ways for instance inspiring Steven Spielberg and the director of Forrest Gump.
When life becomes an illustration
In a time where modern art and avant-gardes were changing forever the common definition of art, Rockwell was considered by most of his contemporaries too commercial to deserve to be called an artist.
In my opinion his work was able to photograph the American society and is therefore very valuable. Remembering that he mostly depicted a limited part of the population he still did capture those romantic American dream ideals with perfect families and capitalist values we often see in movies.
Even if he wasn’t recognized by some of the professionals in the art world he still had a very successful career. Imagine he was so influential that the Post had designated him to paint presidential portraits for years. And in 1977 he was awarded with the Medal of Freedom by President Ford.
His depiction of Christmas
This holiday owes its popularity to the nostalgia and happiness that surrounds memories of family gatherings. And of course we shouldn’t forget how happy and excited children are on Christmas eve knowing they are going to open their presents soon. Rockwell was able to capture this whole atmosphere and love for the holiday in his paintings, delighting thousands of Americans.
The importance of Dickens in his art
During his childhood Rockwell’s father would often read him Dickens’ novels and he was fascinated by the characters depicted in this stories. In fact it was after seeing him drawing Scrooge from a Christmas Carol that his parents were convinced of letting him attend art school and pursue an artistic career. Years later he was able to create illustration like the one I chose, which depicts Tiny Tim on his father’s shoulder from “A Christmas Carol”. This novel has become one of the pillars of Christmas time also thanks to the nice animated adaptation produces by Disney.
Father Christmas at his best
The very first image that comes to anyone’s mind when thinking about Christmas is of course the good old Santa Claus, with his red hat and big white beard.
Personally I learnt about Norman Rockwell and his art thanks to a popular cereal for which he had designed the Christmas cover. Not only do I love Corn Flakes in general, but I always liked the realistic but still funny design of Santa Claus. It’s this image that made me curious about learning more about the talented artist behind it.
In “Santa reading mail” Rockwell depicts Father Christmas while he’s reading the countless letters that children from all over the world have sent him. The artist also suggests the Christian origin of this character from Saint Nicolas, the patron of children by painting his aureole.
And here we have him again while he carefully plans out the route he needs to take to bring gifts to children all over the world. Of course he looks very focused: we can only imagine how hard it is to deliver so many presents in just one night. He better organize himself thoroughly or some kid in the good list won’t wake up to his favorite toys under the Christmas tree.
A quick look into the work behind Rockwell's Christmas
Everybody knows that Santa Claus wouldn’t be able to do everything by himself and that he needs little helper to get the job done. In this illustration we don’t see any elf in a green costume, but an exhausted salesgirl laying on the floor after finishing her shift on Christmas eve. Not only the storytelling is on point, but the attention to detail is also outstanding.
Just like Santa Claus, Rockwell wouldn’t have been able to create the same works without the help of photography. His usual routine started with sketches of the composition and story he had in mind from imagination. Then he would look for the right model(s) and ask a professional photographer to shoot references for him. Finally he would come in and carefully paint his illustrations with oils.
The perfect holiday for families
I particularly love his Christmas illustrations that include children because the storytelling feels much more clear and similar to the cheesy Christmas movies they always play on the Tv. For instance in this one we have a lady with her three children and a cute dog all looking out at the window after spotting their father on his way home.
This one is the perfect stereotypical American family during Christmas. They all have their hands full with nicely wrapped gifts and big smile on their faces. Of course the only exception is the little kid who looks like he’s screaming maybe to let his grandmother of their arrival. The scene is full of decorations nd the presence of the color red is very strong.
This picture is probably my favourite. There’s so much storytelling going on and it’s something we can all relate to. This young boy has just discovered a Santa suit in a cupboard and has his mouth wide open for the shock of learning that someone in his family dresses up as Santa Claus every year. His exaggerated expression (kinda similar to that of Munch’s scream, but with a whole different kind of desperation) adds to the storytelling perfectly.
Final Thoughts
Rockwell was a master at crafting scenes to tell a story and make his message come through easily without the need of much interpretation. This simplicity united with the detailed scenery is probably the reason his covers were so requested and are now worth millions of dollars.
I hope you enjoyed this little trip down on the magical world of Christmas with me and wish all of you happy holidays and an happy new year. Hopefully we’re going to be able to include some of this magic into our daily lives and not forget that art is everywhere and we just have to look for it even in the smallest moments.
Take a closer look at the artwork in this post
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