Norman Rockwell Biography
1938 Through 1953

Norman Rockwell Biography (continued): In 1938, the Rockwell family traveled to England. During this trip, Rockwell met some famous and talented British illustrators, including Arthur Rackham, George Belcher and Edmund Dulac.

In 1939, Rockwell moved his family to Arlington, Vermont. The trip to rural England has rekindled childhood memories of his childhood trips to the country. The couple decided to look for a farm in the country. Chance led them to Arlington. And Arlington fit them to a tee. The Rockwells would call Arlington home for over thirteen years.

1943 was marked by some of Rockwell's greatest and most loved paintings. In 1943, the famous Four Freedoms paintings were conceived and painted. During the height of World War II, Rockwell became inspired by Franklin Roosevelt's Four Freedoms speech. Taking the four freedoms mentioned in the speech as his cue, Rockwell painted Freedom From Want, Freedom to Worship, Freedom From Fear and Freedom of Speech. The paintings and accompanying articles from some of the best writers of the time were published in consecutive issues of The Saturday Evening Post. The first article and illustration were published on February 20, 1943.

Norman Rockwell at his drawing board Photo available at Art.com

Later that year, tragedy struck. A fire burned his studio to the ground. Rockwell lost his extensive costumes and props collection. In addition, an unknown number of paintings were lost to the fire.

In 1946, Norman Rockwell: Illustrator by Arthur L. Guptill was published.

In 1949, Rockwell started a new calendar series for calendar publisher, Brown & Bigelow. The Four Seasons calendars were published for seventeen straight years.

1953 saw the Rockwell family moving to Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Stockbridge would become Rockwell's permanent home. The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass would also become the permanent home for many of Norman Rockwell's original paintings, his personal belongings and his art collection.

A life as big and full as Rockwell's can't be told on only one page.

Norman Rockwell Biography, page one (1894-1917)...

Norman Rockwell Biography, page two (1918-1936)...

Norman Rockwell Biography, page three (1938-1953)...

Norman Rocwell Biography, page four (1953-1978)...