Norman Rockwell (Marling-Taschen)
(2005 - Taschen)

(by Karal Ann Marling) Full-title might be considered NORMAN ROCKWELL 1894-1978 - AMERICA'S MOST BELOVED PAINTER. This 96-page book appears to be part of Taschen's 'Basic Art' series. Perhaps the larger edition (the one with The Tattoo Artist on the cover) may be even more satisfying (the one with The Runaway seems to be a French-language edition of unknown dimensions). You can see on the listing below that there is another, half-again thicker book (159 pages) by Marling, from Harry N. Abrams Publishing, that should not be confused with this one, it being a much poorer collection of the art, though it contains a different and more extensive commentary on Rockwell's life & art. This one has eight chapters: Kids And Cops - An Illustrator Learns His Trade, Fame And Fortune, Patriotism In Paint - Norman Rockwell Goes To War, Mr. Rockwell Paints A Magazine Cover, Postwar Pleasures, Cute Kids-Again, Norman Rockwell Paints His 'Big' Pictures At Last, and a Chronology. There are 57 pages here that are dedicated to large reproductions and another seven pages with multiple images. There are five double-page-spreads that all work well. The works are well captioned with a title (not necessarily always the same title as the 'big books'), creation year, usage, size, medium, current holder and, many times, an anecdote concerning the piece. The List recommends Elizabeth Miles Montgomery's NORMAN ROCKWELL, THE BEST OF NORMAN ROCKWELL, 102 FAVORITE PAINTINGS and PICTURES FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE before this collection, but if you have those, you will find here 11 new 'well-presented' paintings not seen in them (and among those, a handful that are collected in few other places at all).