Norman Rockwell's Iconic American Thanksgiving

Norman Rockwell was adept at capturing iconic American scenes in a highly realistic, almost illustrative way.  He had the ability to capture moments in the American culture that distilled our way of lives at specific times in our culture.  He certainly had his critics, but he remains a favorite artist among many and his works are still loved and appreciated by a majority of Americans.

Thanksgiving by Norman Rockwell                  from google for education only

So I thought we would have a little fun and look at a "fake" Norman Rockwell that is a parody of his paintings of American life.  Rockwell went for the ideal and as we know American life is not always that!

I looked for who to give credit for this and could not find it….google image for education only

AND HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU ALL!

An American Thanksgiving

An American Thanksgiving

Looking at how art influences and reflects our world.  One thing art does is acts as a time capsule of our culture and times.  Norman Rockwell was an American artist that took iconic scenes in the country, capturing a moment or scene that incapsulates American culture.  Rockwell was criticized for being to commercial, his art too cartoon like, but he was very popular and he served a purpose of chronicling kernels of American culture.  For some it seemed idolized and for other nostalgic, but loved by the general public.  Approaching our Thanksgiving I thought we would give the rest of the world a window in to an American Thanksgiving through art and history.

Norman Rockwell          from google image

Two Artist, Two Worlds/Both celebrating People

Fall and Thanksgiving always bring to mind two artists for me.

One is Norman Rockwell and the other is Pieter Bruegel. Two artists could not be more different in style, yet the core of their subject matter is similar; the celebration of the common man in everyday life. Rockwell's paintings are folksy Americana. His art is almost magazine illustrative style. Rockwell was a 20th century American artist. Pieter Bruegel painted peasant scenes about everyday Flemish life. He painted in the 16th century. You might ask, how could they possibly be similar. It is in the subject matter. Both artists both loved capturing the essence of people enjoying seasons and celebrations of life. Rockwell's Thanksgiving Family scene with the food pouring out on the table is one of joy and abundance. Bruegel, the elder, painted the peasant wedding in the same being with vein, celebration and the richness of life. The colors in both paintings are similar. They are in tones of orange, brown and yellows which reflects back to the colors of the fall season. Check out both artist on these sites, compare the paintings and let me know what you think.

These sites are clickable in the column websites of interest in the column to the right.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pieter_Bruegel_the_Elder

http://www.nrm.org/

ps. If you read an earlier version of this post I apologize. One should never do a post right before bed time or it could be full of errors, which mine was. So I thank you all for reminding me not to post while sleepy!!!