Böcker av Karal Ann Marling

From prom scenes to Thanksgiving spreads, returning servicemen to smiling boy scouts, the works of Norman Rockwell are imbued with optimism, patriotism, community, and family. Brimming with wholesome cheer, they say as much about his artistic talents as they do about the popular values and aspirations of 20th-century America.

An extraordinarily prolific artist, Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) produced some 4,000 paintings in his lifetime, not including a prodigious quantity of commissioned editorial, commercial, and advertising work. His death in 1978 was regarded the loss of a national icon, an artist who, like no other, celebrated the American Dream. Shunning experimentation and avant-garde techniques in favor of effective composition and relatable subject matter, Rockwell created wholesome, homely paintings with accessible and aspirational appeal. Neat, quaint, and typically jovial, his subjects included classrooms, prom scenes, and Thanksgiving feasts, while his most long-standing projects were covers for The Saturday Evening Post magazine and calendars and covers for the Boys' Life publication of the Boy Scouts of America. Imbued with optimism and patriotism, the work foregrounds classic professions such as doctor and teacher, as much as the conservative stalwarts of military, family, and faith. Hailed by President Gerald Ford as a "beloved part of the American tradition," Rockwell's works reveal as much about his own talents as they do about the story of 20th-century America. This fresh artist introduction from TASCHEN brings together key paintings and illustrations from his celebratory and sunny portfolio, as well as some more unusual works tackling the underside of the United States, to understand an integrally American artist, and the values and ideals that shaped his success.

An extraordinarily prolific artist, Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) produced some 4,000 paintings in his lifetime, not including a prodigious quantity of commissioned editorial, commercial, and advertising work. His death in 1978 was regarded the loss of a national icon, an artist who, like no other, celebrated the American Dream. Shunning experimentation and avant-garde techniques in favor of effective composition and relatable subject matter, Rockwell created wholesome, homely paintings with accessible and aspirational appeal. Neat, quaint, and typically jovial, his subjects included classrooms, prom scenes, and Thanksgiving feasts, while his most long-standing projects were covers for The Saturday Evening Post magazine and calendars and covers for the Boys' Life publication of the Boy Scouts of America. Imbued with optimism and patriotism, the work foregrounds classic professions such as doctor and teacher, as much as the conservative stalwarts of military, family, and faith. Hailed by President Gerald Ford as a "beloved part of the American tradition," Rockwell's works reveal as much about his own talents as they do about the story of 20th-century America. This fresh artist introduction from TASCHEN brings together key paintings and illustrations from his celebratory and sunny portfolio, as well as some more unusual works tackling the underside of the United States, to understand an integrally American artist, and the values and ideals that shaped his success.

Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), ein außerordentlich produktiver Künstler, fertigte in seinem Leben rund 4.000 Gemälde an, bei denen die immense Zahl seiner Auftragsarbeiten für Presse, Wirtschaft und Werbung noch gar nicht mitgerechnet ist. Sein Tod im Jahre 1978 wurde als Verlust einer nationalen Ikone wahrgenommen, eines Künstlers, der wie kein anderer den amerikanischen Traum zelebrierte . Experimente und avantgardistische Tendenzen waren Rockwells Sache nicht; brav, idyllisch und meist heiter stellte er Abschlussballszenen, Begegnungen im Diner, Thanksgiving-Essen im Familienkreis und andere beschauliche Szenen dar, die die weiße, amerikanische Mittelschicht in ihrem Gefühl bestärkten, in der besten aller möglichen Welten zu leben. Seine Titelbilder für die Zeitschrift The Saturday Evening Post und für Boys' Life , die Mitgliederzeitschrift der amerikanischen Pfadfinder, machten ihn zu einem Idol des wertkonservativen Amerika , dem man es auch verzieh, wenn er etwa Themen wie die Rassentrennung auf seine moderate Art aufgriff. Rockwell, den US-Präsident Gerald Ford als " lieb gewordenen Bestandteil der amerikanischen Tradition " pries, offenbart in seinen Werken ebenso viel über sein eigenes Talent wie über das Selbstbild der USA im 20. Jahrhundert. Dieser Band zeigt klassische Werke aus seinem heiteren und sonnigen Portfolio, aber auch einige ungewöhnlichere Arbeiten, die sich mit den Schattenseiten der Vereinigten Staaten auseinandersetzen.

It wouldn't be Christmas without the "things." How they came to mean so much, and to play such a prominent role in America's central holiday, is the tale told in this delightful and edifying book. In a style characteristically engaging and erudite, Marling describes the outsize spectacle that Christmas has become.

From the painting-by-numbers fad to the public fascination with the First Lady's apparel to the television sensation of Elvis Presley to the sculptural refinement of the automobile, Marling explores what Americans saw and what they looked for in the 1950s with a gaze newly trained by TV.

Between the cultural ephemera, folklore, song, and history embedded in Moses' paintings and the potent advertising shorthand for Americana that her images rapidly became, this book reveals the widespread longing for the memories, comforts, and small victories of a mythic, intimate American past tapped by the phenomenon of Grandma Moses.