Norman Rockwell In Deborah Solomon's American Mirror

“American Mirror”, a biography written by Deborah Solomon, goes through the life of the famous American artist, Norman Rockwell. Foremost, it is clear that despite Rockwell’s wealth, he led a normal life, which includes the ups and downs of living. A couple examples in the book are, “Rockwell was asked to illustrate a children’s book… He signed his first book cover Normal P. Rockwell”(52). As well as, “Irene came back with a yes to Rockwell. She would marry him.”(80). As one can find, both getting married to his first wife or getting his first occupation for his skills show the common actions someone may take in life. Similarly, a key conflict that affected all patriotic Americans was the second “World War”. For instance, “He enlisted in

Primarily, when describing Rockwell throughout his history, he seems to be quite the flat character, in which he reveals what he is as a person, but doesn’t seem to change as a person. In a case, one fact reveals, “Rockwell won his first prize in in December 1905, for a now lost-drawing….He was eleven years old”(31). But also in his later life, it is stated, “Rockwell was asked to illustrate the chapter on the explorer Samuel de Champlain”(51), in which he also attempted.What these facts display is his skills and characteristics, but also how never really changes as a person on the inside. In addition, another major character to Rockwell was Thomas Fogarty, his most favored art instructor. Why he was a huge impact was because he aided Rockwell in the art industry. For example, “Acting on a tip from Fogarty, Rockwell arranged to see the magazine’s editor”(54), in which he got the job for “Boy’s Life”, one of the most famous boy 's scout magazines back then. What was significant about the help from Fogarty was that it lead Rockwell into his career for other famous magazines such as “The Saturday Evening Post”. As mentioned previously, Ruby Bridges, an American icon for equality also affected Rockwell in a big way. Though it was a few years later since Ruby was the first person of color to join an all-white school, it inspired Rockwell to paint one of the most famous civil rights movement pictures, which is called “The Problem We All Live With”(369-370). Not only was this a key to success towards civil rights, but it also became a huge success on its own. As well, Rockwell became a life member of the NAACP and became an advocate for equality. In all, these diverse characters who’ve had different experiences are all able to help enlighten Rockwell, in which made him the man who he