Norman Rockwell Museum 2012 summer schedule:
Visions of the Past concentrates on Pyle’s depictions of history, including Roman gladiators and Medieval knights. His views of the classical world drew inspiration from the work of the French academic artist Jean-Leon Gérome (1824 – 1904) and his numerous depictions of the Middle Ages show how conversant Pyle was with the works of the 19th-century Pre-Raphaelites. Pyle’s pirate imagery is based on his own personal archive of costume books and historic manuscripts; however, his use of strong diagonals, flat compositional arrangements, and restrained placement of color suggests an understanding of the art world’s new-found interest in Japanese ukiyo-e prints. The contemporary art world was obsessed with Japanese art as reflected in the work of James McNeill Whistler, James Tissot, and Edgar Degas, among others.
Fairytale and Fantasy will focus on Pyle’s fairy tales and children’s illustrations, which show his knowledge of European illustrators, including Walter Crane (1845 – 1915) and Kate Greenaway (1846 – 1901). His depictions of the world of make-believe also reflect many of the themes and methods of European Aesthetic and Symbolist art.
America – Past and Present highlights Pyle’s enthusiasm for the American Colonial Revival of the 1880s, which celebrated the history of the United States. Many of Pyle’s iconic Revolutionary War scenes seem to have been strengthened by knowledge of the work of the French Salon artist, Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier (1814 – 1891), whose military scenes of the Napoleonic Wars were immensely popular.
Howard Pyle: American Master Rediscovered
Norman Rockwell Museum exhibitions
- A Day in the Life: Norman Rockwell’s Stockbridge Studio – Open through October
- Curator’s Choice: Recent Gifts to the Permanent Collection – Ongoing
- Norman Rockwell’s 323 Saturday Evening Post Covers – Ongoing
- The Art of Norman Rockwell: Highlights from the Permanent Collection – Ongoing
- The Stockbridge Models Project: A Norman Rockwell Museum Historic Preservation Project – Ongoing
Norman Rockwell Museum hours and contact info.
- 9 Route 183 – Stockbridge, MA 01262
- phone: 413-298-4100
- May-October and holidays: open daily: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and until 7:00 p.m. on Thursdays in July and August
- November-April: Weekdays 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. – Weekends and holidays: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
- www.nrm.org
